Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1854-04-22
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE.
FROM "LEAvEs IN THE DIARY OF LAW CLERK


The reader must not expect any artist.
ic finish, or coloring in such brief trans.
cripts as can furnish of by-gone psssa-
ges in my clerkly experience. Law
writer's and romance writers are We nv dis.
tinct classes Of penmen, and | am conse-
quently quite aware that these ske ches
have no other claim TO attention than that
they are genuine exceipls-wril large
from a journal in which the incidents of
a day were faithfully noted down at the
time Of their occurrence; Their accuracy,
therefore, does not depend upon memory,
which certainly | do not find to be as
virile and tenacious at seventy as it was
ct seventeen. No one will feel surprised
,ha, | should, in my vocation. have turned
over several startling leaves in the darker
chapters of our social history; and some
of these, have though, may prove even
more interesting to numerous class of
minds, when plainly and unpretenGingly
set forth, than il lrcked out in the snowy
varnish and false jewels Of romance aud
fanciful invention.
On the evening previous TO the day,
Mr.. P, suppose, Ior convenience
sake, we call him Mr.. Prince, he was
one in many respects-on the evening,
then, previous 10 the day, Mr.. irnce, a
barrister, whose clerk | had been for
about three years, intended Sc ting out
for the second time, on the Western Cir.
cult, a somewhat unusual circumstance,
or rather couple of circumstances, oc>
Cured. | must premise that Mr.. Prince
had at the previous assze, made great
hit a. Salisbury, by successful objection
to an indictment framed under the 3Oth
Geo. 2. which charged respectfully con-
nected young man with stealing sum OF
money in bank notes. Mr.. Prince, con.
tended that bank notes were not "moneys,
wares, goods or merchandise" within the
meaning Of the statue, an opinion in
which the judge, M. Baron Thompson
after much augmentation, coincided, and
the prisoner was acquitted and discharged
This hugely astonished the agriculture
mind Of Wiltshire lawyer whe couc
prove bank note, 'hen a legal tender
not to be money, was universally admitted
TO be q match, and something 10 spare
for any big.wig on The circuit, and a ful
share Of briefs would it was pretty Ger
tain. thenceforlh fall to MI. Prince.
share.
And now,to return to the circumstance.
l was speaking of. I was waiting a
chambers in the Temple on the evenins
in question for Mr. Prince. when wht
should bus,le in but old Dodsley, the at
torney Of Chancery Lane. Many pei,
sons must still remember old Dodsley, O
at all events, his powdered pg-taiI, gol,
eye-glass. tasseled Hessian boots, an,
everlasting pepper-and-salt pants. Thi
visit surprised me. for the spruce and con
sequential antique bad not, as yet, | SUP
posed, a sufficient relish of age about u
to suit his taste.
"Mr. Prince" he said, "of course poe
on the Western Circuit! To be sure, t,
be sure. Is he re aimed in the SaIisbur,
case Of he King on the prosecution O
Gilbert against Somers :"
knew perfectly we'll he was not, bu
Of course lreplied that would look, an,
passed my finger slowly and delberatel,
down the page of an entry.b ook. IN,
he is not" ! sail on reaching the foot o
the leaf.
"rhen here is retainer for the de
fense." Dodsley placed one.poun
note and shilling on the table, and a
soon as l had made the usual entry, added
4 am acting in this matter for Cotes
of Salisbury, who, as he case is of som
importance, will deliver the BRIEF hand
somely marked | believe, and with goo
fee to clerk, at Winchester; good-by =
| A quarter of an hour afterwards, tn
great Mr.. pendergast, solicitor of Basine
hall street ascended the stairs, and pre
sented himself. He had brief in hi
hand, marked Fifty Guineas.' This
saw at glance : indeed. of all the cha,
acters on the back Of brief. the figure
the fee-by some magnetic a,,ractio
or influence, invariably caught my ey
first.
'Mr. Prince proceeds on the Wester
Circuit =
Certainly
'And is not conclude, retained in tn
Grown case against S"mers for larceny Z
''The deuce! we'll, this odd!' ex
claimed, Mr.. Dodsley left retainer fo
the defense not above Ten minutes ago.
sYou don't say So! rejoined Mr.. Pen
dergast. peevishly; dear me, dear me
how unfortunate! The prosecuting
anxious above all things to secure MI
Princes services, and now--dear me T.
This is kind of business not at all i,
our line; nor Indeed 10 that OF the re
spectacle Devices firm who have take,
the unusual course of sending the brie
TO London, although relating 10 the sim
pie matter Of larceny /; dea: me, how un
fortunate! and the fee you see is hsavv.
Surprisingly so indeed! The prose
tcutrix must be wonderfully anxious I,
Sccure n convicf inn /, ronl:.l =,