Shorter Notices
Tins is an agreeable assembly of articles and causeries by the Metropolitan Magistrate for West London. Dealing mostly with legal and social questions, they are the product of a humane and enlightened mind. The legal anecdotes are almost all good, from Lord Darling's famous epigram, " The law is open to all, like the Ritz Hotel," to Mr. Justice Maule's classic summing-up, " Gentlemen of the jury, if you don't believe the witnesses for the plaintiff, you will find for the defendant. If you don't believe the witnesses for the defendant, you will find for the plaintiff. If, like myself, you don't believe any of them, heaven knows which way you will find. Consider your verdict." Mention must also be made of the superb will of a Wall Street broker, and of the lady whose will ran to 95,940 words. Lastly, there is a section devoted to the theatre, in which Sir Gervais has always been interested. He confesses that he has all his life been more or less stage-struck, that he was offered a job by Tree, and that he considers Elisabeth Bergner a great actress. Whatever one's opinion of this last judgement, the book is recommended to all who appreciate quiet and urbane comment on the world around them.
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