Law and Laughter (e-book)

The scope of this volume is indicated by its title, a presentation of the lighter side of law, as it is exhibited from time to time in the witty remarks, repartees, and bon mots of the Bench and Bar of Great Britain, Ireland and America. The idea of presenting such a collection of legal faceti originated with the late Mr. D. Macleod Malloch, and it is greatly to be regretted that by his untimely death, his share of the work had reached the stage of selecting only about one-half of the material included in the book. His knowledge of law, and his wide reading in legal biography, was such as would have increased considerably the value of this volume.

In addition to sources which are acknowledged in the text, I have to mention contributions drawn from the following works: W. D. Adams' Modern Anecdotes; W. Andrews' The Lawyer in History, Literature and Humour; Croake James's Curiosities of Law; F. R. O'Flanagan's The Irish Bar; and A. Engelbach's Comprehensive and Entertaining Anecdotes of the Bench and Bar. I am further indebted to Sir James Balfour Paul, Lyon King of Arms, for permission to include “The Circuiteer's Lament,“ from the privately printed volume Ballads of the Bench and Bar, and to the editor of the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch for a number of the more recent anecdotes in the Scottish chapters of the book.

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