would most probably be at least a couple of
dolts. By the way, why should not the same
option be given to suitors in Westminster
Hall as is given in the County Courts?'

'What!' exclaimed Mr. Ficker; 'abolish
trial by Jury! the palladium of British liberty!
Have you no respect for antiquity?'

'We must adapt ourselves to the altered
state of society, Ficker. Observe the great
proportion of cases tried in these Courts;
more than sixty per cent. of the entire
number of plaints entered. This is vastly
greater than the number in the Superior
Courts, where there is said to be scarcely one
cause tried for fifty writs issued. Why is this?
Simply because the cost deters parties from
continuing the actions. They settle rather
than go to a jury.'

'And a great advantage, too,' said Mr.
Ficker.

'Under the new bill,' said our friend, the
Clerk, 'Ficker's clients will all be coming to
us. They will be able to recover 50l. in these
Courts without paying Ficker a single 6s. 8d.,
unless they have a peculiar taste for law
expenses.'

'And a hideous amount of rascality and
perjury will be the consequence,' said Mr.
Ficker; 'you will make these Courts mere
Plaintiffs* Courts, Sir; Courts to which every
rogue will be dragging the first man who he
thinks can pay him 50l., if he only swears hard
enough that it is due to him. I foresee the
greatest danger from this extension of litigation,
under the pretence of providing cheap law.'

'Fifty pounds,' said I, 'is, to a large
proportion of the people, a sum of money of very
considerable importance. I must say, I think
it would be quite right that inferior courts
should not have the power of dealing with so
much of a man's property, without giving him
a power of appeal, at least under restrictions.
But at the same time, looking at the
satisfactory way in which this great experiment
has worked,—seeing how many righteous
claims have been established and just
defences maintained, which would have been
denied under any other system—I cannot but
hope to see the day when, attended by proper
safeguards for the due administration of
justice, these Courts will be open to even a
more numerous class of suitors than at
present. It is proposed that small Charitable
Trust cases shall be submitted to the Judges
of these Courts; why not also refer to them
cases in which local magistrates cannot now
act without suspicion of partisanship?—cases,
for example, under the Game Laws, or the
Turnpike Laws, and, more than all, offences
against the Truck Act, which essentially
embody matters of account. Why not,' said I,
preparing for a burst of eloquence, 'why
not—'

'Overthrow at once the Seat of Justice, the
letter of the Law, and our glorious constitution
in Church and State!'

It was Mr. Ficker who spoke, and he had
rushed frantically from the room 'ere I could
reply.

Having no one to argue the point further
with, I made my bow to Mr. Nottit and
retired also.

SWEDISH FOLK-SONGS.

FAIR CARIN.

The fair Carin—a maiden,
    Within a young king's hall,
Like to a star in beauty
    Among the handmaids all.

Like to a star in beauty,
    Among the maidens there;
And thus the king addressed him
    Unto Carin the Fair.

'And fair Carin, now hearken,
    Wilt thou be only mine,
The grey horse, golden-saddled,
    It shall this day be thine.'

'The grey horse, golden-saddled,
    Is all unmeet for me;
Give them unto thy fair young queen,
    And let the poor maid be.'

'And fair Carin, now hearken,
    Wilt thou this day be mine,
My crown, made of the red, red gold,
    It shall alone be thine.'

'Thy crown, made of the red, red gold,
    Is all unmeet for me;
Give it unto thy good young queen,
    And let the poor maid be.'

'And fair Carin, now hearken,
    Wilt thou this day be mine,
The half of all my kingdom,
    It shall alone be thine.'

'The half of all thy kingdom
    It is unmeet for me;
Give it unto thy gentle queen,
    And let the poor maid be.'

'And fair Carin, now hearken,
    If thee I may not win,
A cask, all spiked with iron,
    Shalt thou be set within.'

'And though that thou shouldst set me
    The spiked cask within,
They would behold, God's angels,
    That I am free from sin.'

They closed Carin, the maiden,
    Within that cruel space,
And the young king's hired servants
    They rolled her round the place.

With that from heaven descended
    Two doves as bright as day;
They took Carin, the maiden,
    And there were three straightway.

A VISIT TO THE ARCTIC DISCOVERY
SHIPS.

BY aid of the North Kent Railway an hour
is more than enough for the journey from
London to the dockyard at Woolwich. On a
bright morning in April, we crossed the paved
court of the dockyard in search of the four
ships that were being made ready to go in