The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-09-08
MY FIRST CLIENT.

had been called to the bar not quite
a year, and was seated with my friend
Frank Armitage III 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 posses
sors of set of chambers at No. 90 Fig
tree court, and of boy named Blobbs,
who was known as our clerk" though
his tender years and seedy garments
made the digniied appellation sound al
most ironical. His style of dress was
peculiar and gave one the idea that he
had several brothers of various sizes, and
had borrowed an article of apparel from
each--his boots belonging to the eldest
and Ibis trousers to the youngest. There
were sundry other boys on our staircase.
with whom Blobbs was constantly hav-
ing little differences and fighting them
out upon the landing indeed this, with
occasional expeditions to Prosper's for
commissariat purposes, formed the
staple of his professional occupations.
When he first undertook his duties, we
had started him with pint bottle of
ink, ream of draft paper, and a gross
of pens and we had enjoined him to
employ all his leisure time in copying
preccdents. He began with great vigor,
aud copied about page and half, in a
large school-bOy hand, the first morn
ing, but he never got any farther. The
ream OF paper dwindied, somehow, and
the ink disappeared to an extent which
even tho numerous little black devils,
with winch Blobbs had embellished his
Hama, f.;la1 10 account 80, mill ooo
morning, / detected him in backing his
boots NTH it, and polishing them with
the pen-wiper. Still, as boys go, Blobbs
was not o very bad specimen and, as
we really. had no work for him to do, we
were nos 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 APP
pearance, our profession was quite indie
pendent of us. We had been called, as
L have mentioned, very nearly year,
and neither of us had been favored with
a brief nor did there appear to be any
particular likelihood that we ever should.
We had had afriend, Charley Larcombe,
who had recently been articled to a
solicitor, and who had promised that
when he was out of his articles (which
would be in about four years. and had
passed his examination (Which might be |
forty he would "give us lift" This |
rather vague prospect really appeared to
be our only chance f; but, with the nat
ural saUguineness of youth, we still !
looked for briefs, though we bad not the |
faintes' notion where they were to come |
from. La truth, IN the very early days |
of oar professional career (when we had |
only boeiI bsrristers for u week or two), |
we used 10 watch with anxious solicitude |
any pessoh Of legal aspect who was seen |
to cross Tie court IL the direction of our
sta rcase ; but we found that the person |
OF legal inspect invariably stopped short
at tho chambers of Cocksure, q. c.,
which wTe Immediately below OURS, and
the st-proach OF stranger had now
ceased tc excite more than casual in
terest A. The outset of our career
we hei unanimously agreed that
everything OF an unprofessional
chatacte, ia our surroundings should
be rig dIY tab1oed. In particular we had
decided that our breakfast should always
be over sni@ its remains cleared away
befocco 4. d., and that smoking should
not on any account, be permitted in
the rOom destined for the reception of
clients. In accordance with these vir-
tuous resolves, we were Tor, should
rattle. fay, we had been) always to be
found Ivy bali past 9, each seated in the
rlgideat OF arm-chars, wearing the
bnckest OF frock-coats and the stiffest of
SHIRT collars, attentivdy perusing pom.
deroos lay books, and making copious
notes with the assistance of a Qieantic
pewtm inkssand, polished to a positively
dazzling brightness. But this halcyon
state OF Affairs was too good TO Last. We
hao scfowed up our virtuous resolves to