it. This person then, without moving from his place in the crowd which was pressing on, said he was engaged in this case. The magistrates replied that it was the rule of the court not to hear professional persons. This person then said that the rule ought to be departed from, and was, he thought, unconstitutional. The magistrates replied, it was the rule of the court, and that what he thought of it could not induce them to depart from it. He then added, that what he thought of it was of as much consequence as what they thought of it. He then became silent, and the case before the court was proceeding, when the business of the court was interrupted by a very general riot and disturbance, occasioned by the mob forcing its way into the court, and this person at its head, advancing in a riotous, menacing manner, using abusive language and insulting expressions to the magistrates, and holding up his clenched fists towards them in a threatening attitude. The magis trates instantly desired the police to put this person in the dock, and he was put in accordingly. He so remained in the dock fifteen or twenty minutes, when, on making an absolute apology for his misconduct, he was discharged. Here it may be necessary to remark that this person heard the bench refuse to hear a professional gentleman (stating that the rule forbad it), and also that he saw a man committed to the dock for insulting one of the magistrates, and that both those occurrences took place immediately previous to his first addressing the court. He therefore knew the rule of the court.

"The magistrates had never seen this person before, but after he was some time in the dock they were told his name was Croke, and that he was a barrister. This the magistrates think it right to state, that neither the rank or profession of any person could have shielded him in a court where they presided from the

punishment due to such gross misconduct.

"From the unusually thronged state of the court, from the noise proceeding from the crowd, and from the part in the centre of it taken by Mr. Croke, who appeared as leader, there was nothing in Mr. Croke's appearance or manner to alter the unfavourable impression; his face was partly disguised, as if to prevent his being recognised, and from his dress and deportment, and the whole tenor of his conduct, the magistrates never suspected he was a gentleman, and had considerable doubts whether he was sober. The very unfavourable impressions on the minds of the magistrates have received strong confirmation from information which has since reached them, and they beg to call your lordship's attention to the following facts: When Mr. Croke entered the Bruff Petty Sessions House, which is also the Quarter Sessions' Court-house, he addressed the crowd collected in the hall in a loud and distinct voice, and told them he was come there to humble the magistrates; that he would be assistant barrister for that day, and several other such-like observations. The clerk of the court, seeing Mr. Croke was a stranger, and hearing he was a barrister, offered to conduct him to the seat set apart for professional persons, which offer Mr. Croke declined, and kept his [station in the midst of the crowd at the back of the court. This place Mr. Croke occupied during his conversation with the magistrates, nor did he leave it until he began the riot for which he was committed; and he was not arrested in his scandalous career until he had reached the bench, and was proceeding to scramble into it.

"The magistrates beg, in conclusion, to assure your lordship, that from their own observation, backed by the information they have received from others, they are convinced that Mr. Croke came to the

petty sessions of Bruff, on the 28th of August last, with the intention of creating a riot; that he did afterwards create a riot; and that, consistently with the duty they owe to their country, to the administration of the laws entrusted to them, and their own characters as magistrates and gentlemen, the most lenient course they could have bestowed towards Mr. Croke was that which they adopted.

"With respect to reparation, the magistrates think, from the perusal of this statement, your lordship will perceive it would be due to them, had not that person already atoned for his misconduct by a very full and satisfactory apology.

"The magistrates feel great delicacy in making any allusion to the memorial presented by the assembled Bar of Ireland, and which your lordship has transmitted to them. The magistrates hold the Bar collectively in high esteem; to many members of that respectable profession they are bound by ties the nearest and dearest; with great reluctance, therefore, they feel obliged to offer an observation on that extraordinary document.

"It may be doubted that any body whatever (and the Bar are no exception) should be allowed to decide on their own privileges; but when in the assertion of those privileges foul imputations are to be cast on others, there is no doubt that the greatest caution should mark their proceedings. In the resolutions of the Bar the magistrates do not see that extreme caution which they should have expected from so august an assembly. The Bar began by taking for granted a statement the truth of which they do not pretend to have investigated, but on the faith of which they do not hesitate to adjudicate; and accordingly they pronounce sentence on magistrates over whom they cannot presume to have

any control; and, finally, they call on your lordship to carry into execution this well-digested condemnation.

"It seems awkward that when lawyers are employed legally and constitutionally to protect and enforce the rights of others, time and money are squandered in lavish profusion before any conclusion can be arrived at; but when they undertake their own cause, with a hop, step, and a jump, they can clear away every obstacle, pronounce their sentence, and leaving law, justice, and jury far behind, with an unpardonable temerity, call on your lordship to become their executioner.—We have the honour to be, &c.,

"DARBY O'GRADY.

"MICHAEL BEVAN."

To this communication the Chancellor replied that he would submit their statement to the adjourned meeting of the Bar; and should their differences prove irreconcileable, he apprehended that the subject-matter in dispute should be referred to some other tribunal. Mr. Croke then brought an action against the magistrates for a libel, which he insisted was contained in their letter to the Lord Chancellor. The case was tried before Lord Plunket, and resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, £500 damages, and 6d. costs.

The bar, in thus bringing this insult to their body under the notice of the Chancellor, had conferred a boon on the public at large; for almost immediately the rule preventing suitors having the assistance of counsel was rescinded in every court where it prevailed throughout the country. This was not the first time that the Bar upheld their privileges when invaded even by the magistrates of the superior courts. Mr. Fitzpatrick, the learned author of Ireland before the Union, relates that Lord Clonmel, when Chief Justice, had used rough language to

a barrister pleading before him; the bar considered themselves insulted, a meeting was held, and a severe condemnation of his lordship's conduct voted with only one dissentient voice, and an unprecedented resolution entered into, that until his lordship publicly apologised, no barrister would either take a brief, appear in the Court of King's Bench, or sign any pleadings. The experiment was actually tried; the judges sat, but no counsel appeared, no cause was prepared, the attorneys all vanished, and their lordships had the Court to themselves. There was no alternative, and Lord Clonmel had to make atonement by publishing a very ample apology in the public papers of the day.

On the retirement of the Duke of Wellington, in 1830, Sir Anthony Hart was recalled. When it became known that he had concluded his list, Mr. Saurin, Q.C., on the part of the bar, said that he was authorised "to express their high sense of the public advantage which had been derived from his impartiality, unwearied diligence, and masterly knowledge of the business and practice of the Court. He was instructed to convey to his lordship the sense of the profession and the tribute of their applause for the almost matchless patience which he had shown to every member of the profession, and for the courtesy which had characterised his lordship while presiding in that Court."

The Chancellor, overcome with emotion, replied that "he had given himself some credit for firmness in

all the vicissitudes of life, but that it had failed him now. It was not the loss of dignity nor of office that he considered of the slightest value, but the recollection of the time he had passed here, which to him was a period of true social happiness. It was this which made him feel the greatest reluctance in parting from such enjoyments. It was not, therefore, without the deepest emotion he must say farewell for ever."

To the general reader the life of Sir Anthony Hart is dull and uninteresting. Though living in times of great political excitement, his name is to be found rather in the pages of the reports of decided cases, than in the history of those struggles yet fresh in the minds of men.

It was while he presided in the Court of Chancery, that the Catholic Emancipation Bill became the law of the land; and yet he sought not for a seat in the Upper House, nor was he desirous of taking part in those debates which were foreign to his tastes. Parliamentary honours, through a long life, were unsought for and unfound by him.

"It is a fact without precedent, that no one of Sir Anthony Hart's decrees or orders, has ever been either reversed or varied in any one case.' He survived his retirement from active life only one year, and died without issue, at his residence, in Cumberland Street, Portman Square, on the 13th of December, 1831, in the seventysecond year of his age.

OLIVER J. BURke.

OUR system of education notwithstanding all recent improvements still contains serious faults. Our children spend years of their live in learning, or in endeavouring to learn the history and language of races who have ceased to exist for centuries. They employ many hours in practising the composition of Latin and Greek verse; in repeating the propositions of Euclid; in solving problems of Algebra; in studying the configuration of the earth; the position of the stars; the phenomena of physics. They are instructed on the composition of heavenly bodies, and all other bodies except their own. It is true they cultivate their outer frames. They row, they run, they leap, they ride, they train until their muscles become as hard as a gladiator's. But of the inner mechanism of their person, of the wheels within wheels which move the springs of life, which call into activity the functions of the brain, the heart, the nerves; of the physical history of man in health and disease in the great majority of cases, they know as much or as little as of the private affairs of the Grand Llama. It has always been a matter of surprise to us that people of education should be so generally destitute of all acquaintance with the rudimentry laws of physiology and pathology. Few but profesional men ever think of looking into the medical science; any layman inquiring for himself is regarded as an eccentric character, and he is reminded more or less politely of the

1

dangers of a little knowledge. We do not say that every man or woman should be able to attain a diploma at the College of Physicians or of Surgeons, or should attempt to prescribe for himself or herself in serious cases. But we hold that every well-informed individual should understand sufficiently the nature and mode of treatment of the most important and most frequent diseases, so as to cooperate intelligently with the doctor, and to watch closely the case in his absence. And the value of skilful nursing in acute disorders is every day becoming more apparent.

Fevers have occupied a prominent place before the public lately, and those who probably had never heard the term enteric before, began to discuss with wise shakes of their heads the daily progress of the Prince of Wales. Public hygiene and public health are subjects that cannot be too much ventilated or canvassed, and though they may not be amusing topics to young ladies and young gentlmen of the period, there are many thoughtful persons of both sexes who are ready and anxious to instruct themselves at every opportunity. We purpose herein giving a brief outline of the origin and nature of typhus and typhoid fevers, so as to impart a few general facts destitute of technicalities, avoiding at the same time as much as possible minute medical details. Not to repeat continually the names of the authorities to which we are indebted for the information contained in this paper, we note at first the works we have consulted.1

and Co.

2 vols. 1866. Macmillan

According to the present nomenclature of diseases, there are in Great Britain four forms of continued fevers, viz: Typhus, typhoid, relapsing, and simple continued fever. Our remarks will be confined to the first two descriptions. The word fever has ever had with us an ominous sound. It represents several maladies of a kindred nature striking down the weak and the strong; the young and the old; the rich and the poor; depriving them of power, of consciousness; plunging them into wild, incoherent, delirious nightmare; until they are dragged by the malignant poison to an untimely grave, or until they are rescued by the beneficent influence of nature.

Typhus has been variously designated jail fever, hospital fever, putrid fever, brain fever, bilious fever, spotted fever, petechial fever, camp fever, and by numerous other names. It has been known in history for many centuries; for it has always been the scourge of armies, following in the wake of both conquerors and conquered. It slew, in 1489, a great portion of Ferdinand's host before Granada. Indeed, war has been one of the greatest friends to typhus, and wars have supplied innumerable victims to the pestilence. From the siege of Metz, in 1552, by the Emperor Charles V., to the siege of Metz, in 1870, by Prince Frederick Charles, the beleagurers and the beleagured have always equally suffered. During Napoleon's wars the French as well as their enemies lost by this cause considerable numbers of men. In Mayence alone, out of a successive garrison of 60,000 soldiers in the years 1813-14, 25,000 men perished in six months. In the Crimean war this disease raged among the allies, and the French especially were reduced in effectives to an alarming extent, and their

whole force was seriously imperilled. Exposure to cold, fatigue, miasma, are evidently predisposing causes weakening the body and rendering it more liable to the reception and absorption of the poison. But whether these predisposing causes may at times be converted into exciting causes, or whether fevers are generated only by contagion or infection from their own specific poison, does not appear to be satisfactorily settled.

The origin of typhoid or enteric fever-formerly also called slow nervous fever, common continued fever, infantile hectric fever, enteromesenteric fever, gastric fever, intestinal fever, pythogenic fever, bilious fever, gastro-bilious fever, muco-enteritis, and by many other appellations-rests on the same doubtful thesis as that of typhus. It certainly spreads like wildfire through a household, a school, a barrack. In the Clergy Orphan School, St. John's Wood, (Lancet, 15th Nov., 1856), a case occurred ten days after the arrival of the patient; within twentyone days four more cases arose, and then thirty-six others simultaneously followed. That the poison is communicable has been proved by numerous experiments. The contagion does not spread by mere touch, like small-pox, but by the scattering of the poison through the intestinal discharge. The origin of the first case in each outbreak may have been casual, or imported, or it may have been due to a rekindling of some dormant germ left from a former similar attack.

The virulent part of the specific poison, by which typhoid fever is communicated, is contained in the diarrhoeal discharges, which issue from the diseased and exanthematous bowel. tous bowel. These discharges drying up, the germs of disease are thus

1866. Longman, Greens, and Co.