The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-09-27
MY FIRST CLIENT.

l had been called to the bar not quite
q year, and was seated with my friend
Frank Armitage in our chambers in the
Temple. Frank had been called on the
same day as myself, and we had agreed
to make our professional start together.
To that end we had become joint pos
SCISSORS of a set of chambers at No. SO
Figtree court, and of boy named
Blobbs, who was known as our "clerk,
though his tender years and seedy gar
ments made the dignifed appellation
sound almost ironical. His style OF
dress was peculiar, and gave one the
idea that he had several brothers OF va
rious sizes, and had borrowed an article
of apparel from each-his boots belong
ing t. the eldest and his trousers to the
Youngest. There were sundry other
bows on our staircase, with whom
Blobbs was constantly having little diff
ferences and fighting them out upon
the landing; indeed this, with occasional
expeditions to Prosser's for commissariat
purposes, formed the staple of his pro-
fessional occupations. When he first
undertook his duties we had started him
with a pint bottle of ink, a ream OF draft
paper, and gross of pens; and We had
enioincd him to employ all his leisure
time in copying precedents. He begun
with great vieor, and copied about a
page and half in large schoolboy
hand the first morning, but he never got
any further. The ream of parer dwin-
died somehow, and the ink disappeared
to an extent which even the numerous
little black devils, with which Blobbs
had embellished his domain, failed to
account for, until one morning detect
ed him in the act OF blacking his hoots
with it, and polishing them with the
penwiper. Still, as boys 60, Blobbs was
not a very bad specimen; and as we
really had no work for him to do, we
were, not disposed to be extremely angry
with him for not doing it.
Fortunately, Armitage and myself
were both to considerable extent indie
pendent OF our profession, for, to all ap-
pearance, our profession was quite lnde-
pendento of US. We had been called, as
T have mentioned, very nearly year,
and neither of us had yet been favored
with a brief nor did there appear to
Re any particular likelihood that we
ever should We had friend, Charley
Larcombe, who had recently been arti
cled to solicitor, and who had prom
sed that when he was out OF his arti-
cles (which would be in about four
years. and had passed his examination
(which might be forty) he would "give
MS lift" This rather vague prospect
really appeared t, be our only chance;
but with the natural sanguineness OF
youth we still looked for briefs, though
we had not the faintest notion where
they we're to come from. In truth, in
the very early days of our professional
career (when we had ouly been barrlsters
fora week or two) we used to watch
with anxious solicitude any person OF
legal aspect who was seen to cross the
court in the direction of our staircase;
but we found that the person of legal
aspect invariably stopped short at the
chambers of Cocksnre. Q. G., which
were Immediately below ours, and the
approach Of stranger had now ceased
to excite more than casual interest.
Our personal habits, too, had degener'
ated. At the outset OF our career we
had unanimously agreed that every
hing OF an unprofcssional character in
our belongings should be rigidly taboo.
ed. In particular we had decided that
our breakfast should always be over and
its remains cleared away before nine A,
NJ, and that smoking should not on any
account be permitted in the room des
tined for the reception of clients. Ii
accordance with these virtuous resolves,
we were Tor should rather say We had
been) always to be found by half-pasi
nine, each seated in the rigidest of arm
chairs, wearing the blacklist of frock
coats and the stiffest of shirt collars, at
tentively perusing ponderous law books.
and making copious notes with the as
sistance of gigantic pewter instand,
polished to positively dazzling bright
ness. But this helcyon state of affairs
was too good to last. We had screwed
mp our virtuous resolves to too extreme
tension, and they had gradually sunl
down again. Who was the first to give
way is q mooted point. My own idea i
that all would have gone we'll had no
Armitage insidionsly suggested our al
lowing ourselves just one cigarette afte
breakfast; while he will have it that tn
thin end of the wsdge was introduced
by my surreptitiously reading an occa
sional French novel under cover o
"Cook on Littlet0n." However thi
may be, we had speedily fallen ava,
from our original high standard.
Not having beep troubled witAatha
nm