The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1876-09-07
MY FIRST CLIENT.

I had been called to the bar not quite
a year, and was seated with my friend
Frank Arrnitage 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 posses
sors of a set Of chambers at No. SO Fig
tree court, and Of boy named Blobbs,
who was known as our /" clerk" though
his tender years and seedy garments
made the dignifed appellation sound al
most ronical. 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 his 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
cemmissariat purposes, formed the
staple of his professional occupations,
When he first undertook his duties, we
had started him with a pint bottle of
ink, a rearn of draft paper, and a gross
of pens and we had enjoined him to
employ all his leisure time in copying
precedents. He began with great vigor,
and copied about page and half, in
large school-boy hand, the first morn
ing, but he never got any farther. The
ream of paper dwindled, somehow, and
the ink disappeared to an extent which
even the numerous little black devils,
with which Blobbs had embelished his
domain, failed to account for, until, one
morning, [ detected him in backing his
boots with it, and polishing them with
the pen wiper. Still, as boys go, Blobbs
was not 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 APP
\ pearance, cur profession was quite indie
pendent of u.s. We had been called, as
I have mentioned, very nearly a 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
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 cur only chance but, with the nat
ueal sanguineness Of youth, we still
looked for briefs, though we had not the
falntest notion where they were to come
from. In truth, in the very early days
of or Tfr OCCASIONAL career (when we had
only been baIristers for d week or two),
we used 10 watch with anxious soGcitude
any person Of legal aspect who was seen
to cross the court liz the direction of our
sta rcaee but we found that the person
OF legal aspect invariably stopped short
1T the chambers of Cocksure, @. c.,
WHICH were Immediately below ours, and
me approach of a stranger had now
ceased &c excite more than casual in
crest. Az the outset of our career
We had unanimously agreed that
everything OF an unprofessional
character IL cur surroundings should
9er;gidly tab Ho9d In particular we had
lecided that ouc breakfast should always
ee over and its remains cleared away
teforce d. H.. and thatsmokiHg should
lot, on any account, be permitted in
he room destined for the reception of
lients. In accordance with these viz
nous resolves, we were Cor, I should
ather cay, we had been) always to be
0und by half past 8, each seated in the
tgidest of arm-chairs, wearing the
lackee+ of frock-coats and the stiffest of
1irt collars, attentively perusing pom
erous law books, and making copious
otes with the assistance of a gigantic
swter inkstand, polished to positively
AGING brightness. But this halcyon
ate OF affairs was too good to last. We
td screwed up our virtuous resolves to