Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



267 



CHAT ABOUT CHANCERY. 



In CasseU's for Maah Mr. T. \\'. \Mlkinson writes 

 on Chancery's millions. 



THE REAL J.ARNDVCE V. J.ARNDVCE— OUTDONE. 



He grants there is ground for the reputation of 

 slowness which the Court of Chancery has obtained : — 



Wiliicss that famous cause, Jamdyce r'. Jarndycc, which is 

 known in legal annals as the Jennens case. The original of 

 B cak Hou?c was a deserted mansion at Acton, in Suffolk, 

 w ere lived an eccentric miser named Jcnnens. On his death 

 n 1798 his estate went in:o Chancery, and gave rise to several 

 suits which dragged on till 1878. They were then disposed of 

 l)y the Court of Chancery, and revived again and finally decided 

 by the Court of Appeal in 1893. A still longer cause originated 

 in a quarrel about lands between one of the Lisles and Lord 

 B rkeley. It lasted for seven generations, 189 years, and was 

 then, to the great grief of the Chancery Bar — who had long 

 looked upon it as a perpetual annuity — settled by a compromise. 

 £50,000,000 NOW IN COURT. 



Chancery is the repository of vast funds, though 

 liuse are by no means all dormant or unclaimed : — 



The nominal value of the money and securities now in court 

 i-, about fifty millions, made up of amounts paid into court to 

 abide the result of litigation, the proceeds of estates sold by 

 i.r<ler of the court or under private estate Acts, appeal deposits, 

 the property of lunatics, etc. One of the most curious sources 

 of income is a railway undertaking. If a company wants to 

 acquire land by compulsory purchase, and questions of owner- 

 ship are raised, it need not trouble itself in the matter at all. 

 By a dispensation which has been an immense boon to the Bar, 

 it can pay the money into court, and leave the parties to fight 

 for it. 



O.SLV ;fl, 100,000 D0RM.\NT. 



A certain portion is officially styled dormant — that is, consists 

 of funds, not less than jCso, which have not been dealt with 

 otherwise than by the continuous investment or placing on 

 deposit of dividends during fifteen years. 1 his portion, which 

 U comparatively small, amounting as it does to about 

 /^l,ICO,ooo, has given rise to the ridiculous myths. 

 ■• CHANCERY EXCAVATORS." 



There are not many nice plums included in this 

 more than a million : — 



I-'or more than two decades a class of men known as 

 "Chancery excavators "—next-of-kin agents and solicitors — 

 have been hunting among the records, and they have been the 

 means of recuvtring an enormous sum in the aggregate. 



The "excavators," in truth, have explored Tom Tiddler's 

 (iiound to such purpose that they have well-nigh denuded it of 

 big nuggets, and nowadays their " finds " are, with few 

 exceptions, more curious than valuable. 



RECENT CHANGES IN WEDDING CUSTOMS. 



I'liE March Str,iii(l tells how wedding ( ustoms have 

 been altered in recent times. Bridal white is an old 



torn that dates from the Dark Apes, but the modern 

 i iile often adopts touches of colour and while and 

 gold lirocade. This change began with I.ady Helen 

 Vincent in t8(;o. .Similarly, the old bridal bouquets 

 were e.\cltisi\ely < omposed of while blooms, but Lady 

 Loch introduced coloured blossoms and carried a 

 bouquet of red ro^e^ at her wedding in 1900. So the 

 wreath and hair decoration, once of necessity orange 

 blossoms, may now be of other flowers or foliage. 

 'l\rtle is a .special favourite. 'Iherc have also been 



•rn recently wreaths of white roses, gardenias, while 



heather, laurel leaves, lace mantilla, silver fillet. 

 Pearls, though reckoned unlucky by the superstitious, 

 have been bravely worn at recent weddings. There is 

 now a dead set against a diamond tiara. 



THE RETURN OF THE GROO.MSMEN. 



Old-world styles are often introduced for brides- 

 maids. .So one set of bridesmaids wore copies of robes 

 in Botticelli's picture of " Springtime " : — 



l!ut the greatest innovation of all is the return of the 

 groomsmen. During the last year or two they have been seen 

 at several marriages, and bride=, bridegrooms, and bridesmaids 

 (especially the latter) wonder \^hy they ever went out of favour. 

 They arc always useful, and certainly add to the spectacular 

 effect of the ceremony. At the above-mentioned weddings the 

 old custom was revived of six groomsmen, who accompanied 

 the six bridesmaids as they followed the bride to the altar. 

 The fact that to-day we use the term "best man " is evidence 

 of this old-time fashion. "Best man "really means the best 

 groomsman, just as we now speak of a first bridesmaid. 



Motors now take the place of broughams and 

 victorias in the " going away " of the bridal pair. 

 Some have driven off for their honeymoon in an open 

 carriage with four horses and postillions, or on a four- 

 in-hand coach, the bride handling the ribbons. One 

 bride of sporting tastes was escorted to church by the 

 staghounds of one meet, and on her return was accom- 

 panied by the fo.xhounds of another. Another bride 

 was followed to the altar by a favourite while bulldog. 

 Vet another drove to church in a carriage drawn by 

 six white rusetted gun-horses, driven by an artillery- 

 man in full uniform. The smartness of Society 

 weddings is on the increase, presents become more 

 numerous and of greater value, toilettes of great 

 beauty and splendour. Trousseaux are, however, 

 diminishing in bulk, if not in price. Few have reached 

 the outfit of the lady who married Mr, Whistler. Her 

 trousseau consisted of a new toothbrush and a new 

 comb 1 



THE SOURCE OF MANY GHOST STORIES. 



Miss I'KANt i;s I'iTT, in Ihidinuitdii for March, tells 

 how the increase of field-mice is kept down by foxes, 

 badgers, owls, hawks, hedgehogs, prowling cats, 

 stoats and weasels. She gives some most instructive 

 photographs. She says : — 



The barn owl is, I believe, the source of more ghost stories 

 than any other living creature, for, while in pi-rsuit of mice, it 

 penetrates, by means of broken windows, holes in the roof or 

 beneath the caves, into the deserted wings of old houses, and if 

 not at first disturbed may even take up its (luarters there. 

 Sooner or later somebody will invade the solitude of the 

 deserted and shut-up building, to be probably greeted by a most 

 peculiar souml, like a long-drawn wailing hiss. It is so strange 

 and weird that it is sutlicient to upset tlie very stoutest nerves. 

 I know of nothing else like it, and nolKxly hearing it for the 

 first lime could possibly suppose it w.as uttered by a bird. The 

 owl, which only gives this cry under the pres-sure of fear, anger 

 and excitement, at the same time draws itself up as high as it 

 can, droops its wings, and moves its head round in circles, so 

 that anylKxly with an active imagination, catching sight for an 

 instant, in a gloomy building, of this strange white object, 

 which a second later may ha e vanished witluul a sound, has 

 ample material with which to construct the most gruesome of 

 talcs I And all because mice and rats infest these sort of old 

 places I 



