for occupancy in 1800, and by 1814 the Southern wing, for the House of Representatives, was also occupied. The two portions were then connected by a wooden passage-way over the space where the Rotunda is now. The government had not taken proper precautions against attack, and on the twentyfourth of August, 1814, a British force dispersed the militia in their way, overpowered a small naval contingent, serving as artillery, and captured the City of Washington. They signallized their stay by burning the unfinished Capitol and other buildings and then ingloriously retreated. The Capitol was

soon completely restored and finally finished according to the original plan, in 1827. The present wings were decided upon, and begun in 1851, and the whole building was completed in 1863.

The Senate Chamber of 1817 and of the days of Webster, and on until 1859, is now the Supreme Court Room, of which is here presented a sketch.

The Court occupied this room in December, 1860, and the Law Department of the Library of Congress was moved into the old Court Room in the basement.

ON MAKING A BRIEF ON APPEAL.-One of the pleasantest branches of professional work for a lawyer who is worthy of the name, and who is more than a mere attorney, is the preparation of points on appeal. Here it is that the good lawyer can show what is in him, and, undisturbed by the hurly-burly of a jury trial, put forth his full strength.

We make no claims to any special expertness in preparing briefs, but, for various reasons, have had occasion to read far more briefs than the average practicing lawyer, and a few suggestions, which occur to us from that reading, may not be without interest to the younger members of the bar.

Of course, to the veteran lawyer these hints (for they are nothing more) are without value.

The first requisite for an appeal is to have something tangible to appeal from, some real grievance or some distinct mistake of law of which there is at least a possible chance for correction upon an appeal. And the aggrieved party must also remember the ruling in Madison University v. White, 25 Hun, 490, 492, that the surprise which will justify a new trial is surprise at evidence, not at the ruling of the Court!

Judge Grover's saying, “that the party who is beaten can either appeal or go to the tavern and abuse the Court, but that he must not do both," is often quoted.

So it is wiser, unless there is some real, tangible ground on which to appeal, to tell the client frankly the truth, and when he is finished abusing the Court, lawyers, Judge and the law, which he invariably does, put the matter to him from a financial, and not a sentimental, side, and let him understand exactly what an appeal means.

But, if you determine to appeal, when you have got the appeal book into shape make a very careful statement of the facts. This is far more important than it appears to many lawyers, especially where a case is long and complicated, and where the facts, to be intelligible, must be extracted from a large mass of confused evidence and grouped together. To suppose the Court will do for you what you will not do yourself, and produce order out of chaos, is a great mistake. You must start with some clear and logical theory as to what the facts really are, for if your facts do not commend you to the Appellate Court it may look with some suspicion on the relevancy of your logical conclusions, however convincing they may be.

If the appeal turns mainly, not on the merits of the case, but on the questions of evidence, then see that they are presented clearly and fully, giving enough to show not only whether any particular question is competent, but to show its importance, sometimes a vital one, in the case. A mere error of a trial Court in regard to a single question of no apparent importance will not always find the Appellate Court alert to reverse the judgment, when all the merits and some of the law seem to be in its favor.

The same Judge who gave the oft-quoted advice which we have mentioned above, also cut short a learned gentleman, who appeared in a

not been decided under some of the numerous statutes which are honeycombing the English common law, and which make most of the recent English opinions merely decisions on statutory construction.

And even in our own State always, before citing an authority of importance, trace it down to date, for it may have been so " distinguished " as to have lost all vitality or meaning.

Some lawyers, in having a brief printed, use every variety of type that is in a printing office, from small italics to gigantic capitals. We have even seen a large hand pointing to particularly impressive passages.

All this is an absurdity, but it is only the exaggeration of what is the true theory of the external form of a brief; that is, to call the attention of the Court in some way to the points which are deemed especially important. One of the best ways of doing this is to print such passages in full-faced letters. They are more conspicuous even than large capitals, and the Judge must be very blind who can fail to perceive that you think here you have a good point.

Remember, finally, that "honesty is the best policy." We do not say this as did the bishop in the story, “Because I have tried both, and I know," but it is always wise to deal fairly with the Court, and not cite cases which you know are overruled, or to cite obiter dicta, or arguments, as having any more force than they really have.

Appellate Judges very soon find out all these tricks of the trade, and it does neither the lawyer nor his case any good to perpetrate any of these petty frauds upon the Court.

We have known one or two lawyers at this Bar who are in the very dishonest habit of practically making a second brief, in writing additional points and citations on the margin of some of the copies of the printed brief to such an extent that the brief submitted to the Court is not the brief shown to the adversary. This, of course, is a swindle which no decent lawyer need be warned against, except to keep a somewhat wary eye upon a shady antagonist.

All that we have said is, as we are perfectly aware, very elementary, and is merely given as a suggestion to some of our younger brethren in view of the very common mistakes which occur in briefs on appeal. But whether these suggestions have any value or not, this we know, that briefs are every day presented to the Appellate Courts which by no means do justice to the attorney who argues the case, nor to his client, who depends on his efforts.-The New York Law Journal.

THE JANUARY NUMBER of Current Comment and Legal MiscelLANY contains a long and quite complete review of the law concerning marriage, which is of interest and value to all. This number is the first of the second volume and contains a great deal of information which a lawyer would charge a good price for.—The American Citizen.

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN'S rule is said to have been-first, a retainer; then, a reminder; then, a refresher; and, lastly, a finisher. This seems too short meter.

Court of Appeals with multitudinous exceptions, by asking him to pick out "the best of the lot."

Follow this advice, pick out the strongest points, and elaborate them carefully, clearly and completely, remembering that a brief, so called, should not be in the form of an oral argument, but should present propositions of law supported briefly, clearly and logically by arguments, fortified by appropriate citations.

If there are minor points not important enough to elaborate, but which you can not afford to pass over in silence, mention them, and, as you must make them short, make them very clear. Of these the best examples are the objections to isolated rulings, which you claim to have been erroneous, but which are in reality of secondary importance. You are entitled to take advantage of them, of course, and should do so, but do not overburden your brief with them.

In the citing of authorities you will not, of course, inflict on the Court undigested and indigestible paragraphs from the various digests, half of which may turn out on close examination to have been founded on obiter dicta.

It does not take long for an attorney to find out that a Court does not want a digest piecemeal; but a mistake that is only too common is the citing of a long list of authorities taken from all jurisdictions, and some of which have not, apparently, so far as human ingenuity can ascertain, the slightest relevancy to the particular case. (As Referee we have had a brief sent to us containing over two hundred authorities on a simple question of pleading.)

In citing cases which you think are controlling of the question at issue, or which, at least, fairly sustain your view, give the principal ones fully and clearly, quoting in extenso when necessary, the parts of the opinion which are exactly in point, and adding to these citations a reference to such other cases as sustain the same propositions.

If the reasoning of your authority is somewhat mixed, or is complicated with other questions, carefully point out exactly how it is applicable to sustain your position, and if there are any parts of the cases cited apparently in conflict with your own case, carefully distinguish or make clear to the Court, if you can, that the conflict is only apparent.

Devote your efforts above all to find authorities in your own State, for these are the ones which are controlling, and it must be a very strange and new question upon which you can not find some light in the six hundred and odd volumes of the Reports of the State of New York. Then, if you can find other sustaining authorities in the Supreme Court of the United States, or, if not there, try Massachusetts, or some other of the States whose Courts have a deservedly high reputation for learning and ability. If you are engaged in a criminal case Texas, of course, is the place to find something on the question one way or the other, and some of the opinions of its Courts on criminal law will give you surprise, if not gratification.

In citing English authorities be careful to ascertain whether they have

nose.

A CHAPTER ON NOSES.-Noses are of various kinds and lines, as well as masculine and feminine, and are also short, long, thin, thick, open, pinched, etc. It is a mistake to suppose that a person with red hair must, in consequence, have a red As far as the writer knows, people with the reddest noses generally have the blackest hair and characters. The man who knows the location of all the saloons where the strongest whiskey is sold and the biggest lunches are given away, is the biped aptest to have the ruddiest proboscis; and the strangest feature of it is, that the "bluer" he gets the redder his nose becomes. A rosy nose like his blooms throughout all the year; and a New Year's frosty day sometimes makes it even ruddier than when June rosebuds blow. Some persons imagine that assiduously coloring the bowl of a meerschaum pipe, gives a deeper blush to the feature that separates the cheeks; but this is an erroneous opinion. It is "the flowing bowl," and not the smoking one, that colors or discolors it. Sometimes the nose is called a beak, from the fancied resemblance of a Roman nose to the prominent tearing instrument with which the eagle prepares his daily rations for digestion; but every Roman knows that it is his eyes, and not his nose, that are the more piercing.

"A hawk nose, for which several conquerors have been remarkable, has been considered to indicate that thirst of blood which they have felt in common with the tribe of birds under which they are classed."

Napoleon, No. 1, it is said, always chose the long-nosed generals of his army to direct the most daring enterprises. The Napoleon family were a very long-nosed one.

Washington had a prominent protuberance for exercising his pocket handkerchief upon; but we must remember that he never had a hatchet face.

An old writer says of the nose that, "in the human face it is the gnomon of the mental dial, and expresses the fixed moral propensities and susceptibilities of the individual.”

To be nasutus, anciently, that is, to have a great nose, was synonymous with being censorious and jeering.

A slight dilation of nostrils, indicating triumph, is assigned to the Apollo Belvidere. Great expansion of the nostrils de