A curious instance occurred of a witness confounding a counsel, at Gloucester, England, some years ago. The witness, on being asked his name, gave it as Ottiwell Woodd. The learned counsel did not seem to catch it, though it was several times pronounced. "Spell it, sir, if you please," he said, somewhat angrily. The witness complied as follows: "O-double t-i-double you-e-double l-double you-double o-double d." The spelling confounded the lawyer more than ever, and in his confusion, amid the laughter of the court, he took the witness aside to help him to spell it after him.
Duels Fought by Clergymen.
In England, in 1764, the Rev. Mr. Hill was killed in a duel by Cornet Gardener, of the carbineers. The Rev. Mr. Bates fought two duels, and was subsequently created a baronet, and preferred to a deanery after he had fought another duel. The Rev. Mr. Allen killed a Mr. Delany in a duel in Hyde Park, without incurring ecclesiastical censure, though the judge, on account of his extremely bad conduct, strongly charged his guilt upon the jury.
A Singular Coincidence.
On the 13th of February, 1746, as the records of the French criminal jurisprudence inform us, one Jean Marie Dunbarry was brought to the scaffold for murdering his father; and, strangely enough, on the 13th of February, 1846, precisely one hundred years later, another Jean Marie Dunbarry, a great-grandson of the first-mentioned criminal, paid the same penalty for the same crime.
Tavern Screens.
Centuries ago, the doors of taverns had an interior screen, similar to those in use at the present day. Lounging was just as much in vogue. In Clare's "Shepherd's Calender," we read—
"Now, musing o'er the changing scene,
Farmers behind the tavern screen
Collect; with elbow idly press'd
On hob, reclines the corner's guest,
Reading the news, to mark again
The bankrupt lists, or price of grain,
Puffing the while his red-tipt pipe,
He dreams o'er troubles nearly ripe;
Yet, winter's leisure to regale,
Hopes better times, and sips his ale."
Ancient Antipathy to Red Hair.
Ages before the time of Judas, red hair was thought a mark of reprobation, both in the case of Typhon, who deprived his brother of the sceptre in Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar, who acquired it in expiation of his atrocities. Even the donkey tribe suffered from this ill-omened visitation, according to the proverb of "wicked as a red ass." Asses of that color were held in such detestation among the Copths, that every year they sacrificed one by hurling it from a high wall.