27 APRIL 1912, Page 13

WILLIAM BENNETT CAMPION.

William Bennett Campion, Serjeant-at-Law. (Hodges, Figgis and Co. 3s. Od. net.)—Serjeant Campion was by common consent a great lawyer, though, as he resolutely stood aside from politics, no Crown office or judgeship came his way. And it is well that some record of his life should be preserved. First we have the picture of an honourable man who never swerved from the path of duty. Then we have a resume, which cannot fail to be of use to professional readers, of famous cases in which he was con- cerned. Finally, we have some good stories, often characteristic of Irish life. Here is the story of a marriage. A match had been arranged, the bride bringing a pig as her dower. Then her father repented; the girl was pretty and might find a. husband on easier terms. "There's Mary, the ould wan," he said to the other father—they, of course, were negotiating the affair—. ye can have the pig with her, an' welcome!" So it was settled; the bridegroom took the " ould wan," and they lived happily ever afterwards. The story that follows might be told of other places besides Ireland. An eminent counsel accepted a brief and did not come near the Court. After a while his clerk wrote to the solicitors suggesting that the fee should be paid. "It had been sent," they explained, pinned to the first loaf of the brief. Hero is yet another which might be told anywhere. A certain bishop was famous for his eloquence. Once, when he had been heard with enthusiasm, it turned out that he had come without a.

discourse and had borrowed one from the rector, who was regarded by his flock as driest of the dry. " Voice I Voice! Voice ! " one might say instead of the Demosthenic " Action ! Action ! Action !"