I came away,

Thro' that justice door,

I've never seen Day,

From that time more;

I would not be willing to say or swear,

That those bailiffs and jurors are not still there;
But this I can tell,

For I know it full well,

That when last thro' that justice-hall I pass'd,

The jury their food and drink were missing,
While the made-up pair were feasting and kissing.'

MORAL AND SEQUEL.

Jove laughs at lover's vows and shame,

And men had better do the same.2

R. M. C.

Savannah, Geo.

A friend informs me, that about six months ago he passed through one of the frontier counties of While there, he strayed into the court house. A man by the name of Henry Day, was undergoing his trial for beating his wife. The prisoner admitted the fact, but alleged that it was done se defendendo, which statement seemed to be corroborated by the appearance of the virago, who was nearly twice his size. His counsel contended that in law, man and wife were one, and that therefore he could not be convicted of whipping himself. The solicitor general replied, that he had lately seen a decision, (he could not at that moment say where), in which it was affirmed, that if a man kill his wife, it is not suicide, but murder, and he insisted on the applicability of the decision to the case at bar. The judge charged the jury, that it was unnecessary to decide that question, but that he would decide, that man and wife were only considered one in law for the benefit of the wife, and that in all other cases, they were two. He then gave the jury in charge of the bailiff, admonishing him, that they were in the habit of going out sober, and coming in drunk, and that if this jury so conducted themselves, he would sentence the bailiff, instead of the prisoner. My friend retired, but returned the next day. He found all the judicial and ministerial officers looking like cannibals, and the admonished bailiff representing a statue at the door of the jury room. The jury sent in a bailiff to say, that there was no prospect of their being able to agree. The judge replied, that they should find a verdict, if they stayed there through eternity. My friend, not having leisure to wait

quite so long, left the court house. When he last saw the high contracting parties (l'un double), they were engaged (maugre the frowns of court and bailiffs), in discussing together the merits of a cold fowl and a quart of beer. Their respective attitudes and countenances gave every indication, that a treaty offensive and defensive had been concluded between them. My friend is unable to inform me, whether the jury are yet in statu quo ante bellum.

" Chancellor Kent, in his celebrated letter to Edward Livingston, Esq., says, "I am a little skeptical as to legislation in regard to sexual matters." The chancellor would have exhibited more judgment, and done immense benefit to the present and all future generations, if he had used the influence of his great name, in recommending the punishment of death, for all persons who interfered in the quarrels of man and wife. Experience, that tutor of us all, has taught us, that judges, jurors, and other officers of the court, are the only sufferers from such accusations-magna pars fui.

Effect of the recent Pecuniary Embarrassments in the Production of Crime. The following gratifying statement is extracted from the report of the chaplain of the Massachusetts state prison, for the year ending Oct. 31, 1837. It is worthy of pres

ervation.

"When those commercial embarrassments, and that general disorganization in all the customary branches of business, by which our country has, for months past, been visited, commenced and spread over the length and breadth of the land, it was most seriously apprehended, that offences against the laws, and the rights of property, would be greatly multiplied,-and, that, in consequence, our penitentiary would fail to accommodate the numbers who might be sentenced, by our courts, to suffer its confinement and discipline. What may have been the results, thus far, of these embarrassments of the times, when such multitudes are thrown out of regular employment, in other parts of the country, the writer has not the means of knowing, with any good degree of certainty; but he has been most happily disappointed as to the result in this commonwealth.

"During the year, ending with September, 1836, ninety-seven convicts were received into the institution. During the year just closed, the number received has been ninety-nine, only two more than during the previous year. This fact is, surely, matter of con

gratulation, when all the circumstances connected with it are duly considered; and is highly honorable to our large commercial towns, and to the whole commonwealth. Connected with this is another fact, worthy of particular notice, and of grateful recognition. Only forty of the ninety-nine convicts, who were received the past year, are native citizens of this commonwealth; the remaining fifty-nine being either foreigners or natives of other states of the union."

Copy-right. The project for the establishment of an international copy-right, by an act of congress, for the benefit of foreign authors in this country, seems to have fallen through, at least for the present. The bill, reported in the senate, by Mr. Clay, in the winter of 1837, was referred at the last session to the committee on patents, who reported against its passage; and no further proceedings appear to have taken place in relation to it.

To our Readers. In this number of our journal, we commence the publication of a series (of six or eight) original articles, on the law of contracts, by Theron Metcalf, Esq. The subject of the two succeeding numbers will be the parties to contracts, commencing with infants, which will occupy an entire article.

We have the promise of an article, on the organization of the French criminal courts, by M. Victor Foucher, the writer of the article in our present number, on private international law.

We have also the promise of an article, from the German criminalist Mittermaier, on the present state of criminal legislation in Europe.

A bibliographical account of all the American Reports is in preparation, and will be published whenever the materials at our command will enable us to complete it. Our friends in remote states will confer a favor by contributing their aid.

The conclusion, promised in our last, of the article on Mr. Justice Story's works on Equity, is unavoidably postponed until the next number.

QUARTERLY LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

UNITED STATES.

The Law Library, edited by Thomas J. Wharton, Esq., and published by John S. Littell, Philadelphia. Nos. 61, 62, 63, containing:

An Essay on Devises: By John Joseph Powell, Esq., Barrister at Law. With copious notes and an Appendix of Precedents; also a Treatise on the construction of Devises. By Thomas Jarman, Esq. of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law.

Manual of Political Ethics designed chiefly for the use of Colleges and Students at Law. Part I. By Francis Lieber. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1838.

[See page 224.]

Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. By Octavius Pickering, Counsellor at Law. Volume XX. No. 1. Boston: Charles C. Little, and James Brown, 1838.

[See page 224.]

Resolves and Private Laws of the State of Connecticut, from the year 1789, to the year 1836. Published by authority of the General Assembly. 2 vols. 8vo. Hartford: John B. Eldridge,

1837.

[See page 221.]

Inaugural Addresses, delivered by the Professors of Law in the university of the city of New York, at the opening of the Law School of that Institution. New York: 1838.

[See page 220.]

A Charge to the Grand Jury, upon the importance of maintaining the Supremacy of the Laws: with a brief sketch of the character of William M. Richardson, late chief justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire. By Joel Parker. Concord, N. H.: Marsh, Capen & Lyon, 1838.

[See page 219.]

Reports of Decisions made in the Superior Courts of the Eastern District of Georgia, by Judges Berrien, T. U. P. Charlton, Wayne,

Davies, Law, Nicoll, and Robert M. Charlton; and in the middle circuit, by Thomas U. P. Charlton. By Robert M. Charlton, late judge of the Superior Courts of the Eastern District. Savannah : T. Purse & Co. 1838.

[See page 213.]

A Charge to the Grand Jury of Adams County, delivered at the opening of the special term of the Criminal Court of Mississippi, on the fourth Monday of June, 1838. By J. S. B. Thacher, judge of that court. Natchez: 1838.

Pickering's Reports, volume V, 2d ed., with notes by J. G. Perkins. Boston: C. C. Little & J. Brown, 1838.

Massachusetts Reports. Volume I. Stereotype cd. with notes by Benjamin Rand: Same, 1838.

A Digest of the cases decided and reported in the Superior Court of the city of New York, the Vice Chancellor's Court, the Supreme Court of Judicature, &c., from 1823 to 1836; being a supplement to Johnson's Digest. Philadelphia: Published by E. F. Backus, 1838.

[See page 212.]

Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of Judicature and in the Court for the Correction of Errors of the state of New York. Vol. XVII. By John L. Wendell, Counsellor at Law. Albany, 1838.

Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Court of Chancery of the state of New York. By Alonzo C. Paige. Vol. VI. New York, 1838.

Reports of Cases decided in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in the Eastern District. December Term, 1837, and March Term 1838. Vol. III. By Thomas J. Wharton. Philadelphia: Nicklin & Johnson, 1838.

Reports of Cases adjudged in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the Third Circuit. 2d edition. Including two cases decided in the same court, and hitherto unpublished. By John B. Wallace. Same.

ENGLAND.

Principles of Conveyancing, designed for the use of students : with an introduction on the study of that branch of the law. By Charles Watkins. Part I, with annotations by George Morley, and Richard Holmes Coote. Part II, with annotations by Thomas Coventry. Eighth edition, revised and considerably enlarged. By Henry Hopley White, Esq. Barrister at Law. In 8vo.

[A good edition of a bad book. Law. Mag.]