The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1896-02-24

ems that he gave his readers plenty OF
everything, and so, amidst the abundance
of other characters, there are also founu
numerous brethren of the wig and gown.
Dickens experience as a reporter made
him familiar with every variety OF the
legal profession, and in his pages may
accordingly be found lawyers of every
class from the dignifled barrister to the
~ orst pettifoggcr, The law courts of Lon
don are SO numerous and have so many
classes of business that there is room
in them for every variety of legal talent,
and in his sketches Of courts, court scenes
and legal business generally. the novenst
seems to have omitted none of the broth
erhood. He has drawn his characters,
too, with wonderful accuracy, so true to
nature are they that every one can recog
nze some of the number as being among
was Mr.. Samuel Briggs. IA mere machine,
a sort of self. acting walking stick" he is
to be found in every city OF THIS country.
He is not ut home outside of a court
room or a legal office. When lie has
nothing TO do he sits in the court where
cases are being tried and listens to the
prosicst, most long-winded arguments
with the most intense interest. lie grows
cid and smoke dried; he lives among
men without consorting with them; he
is not a home, though he may cali 1t SO;
it is generally back of his office, a small.
dingy room, with a bed washstand ana
a bureau; and there he goes when ~, 1t Is
does everything else, simply from habit.
for he never grows tired and IN the even
ing when other men seek relaxation, ne
sits staring at musty tome without so
much as winking for hours at time.
THE PROSPEROUS LAWYER.
or the well to do farmer Mr.. Tulknghorn
in BLEAK House" is one of the best exam
pies. He is gentleman of the old school.
that is of any school which has never
been young, IS somewhat rusty to look
patronized by rich families that have suits
in chancery, destined TO remain there for
ever and locked UP in his bosom are the
condolences of half the nobility He never
talks. save when professionally consulted
and even then only to limited extent.
therefore enjoys the reputation of i'm
mense wisdom, and even when he does
something in a social way it is with the
same gravity and taciturnity that char
acterize his daily walk and lack of con-
versation. Nobody knows anything about
rim with deiiniteneSs, for 1t is pant OF his
business to he mysterious. In this partic-
ular he bears a close resemblance to the
low, with whom David Copperneld studied
law Poor old Jorkins was hold responsible
by the clients of Spenlow e. Jorkins, for a
great many sins of which he knew MOTH
Ing. There is no telling how much good
the benevolent Mr.. Sperlow would have
done had 1t not been for his hard hearted
partners. And yet. when approached by
David on the matter of return of his
money, the old gentleman seemed quite
distressed; so much so that he felt OBJ
avoid further solicitation. The legal pro-
tcssion contains n great many partners
Ike Mr.. Jorkins and some times it hap
pens that there are two In the same iirni
each. In the absence of the other, an
swering the nurpose of a Jorkins when
tavors are solicited. Speilow. too, was
ether way in his ability to preserve the
appearance of prosperity, an essentially
in his bushes IS, OF much less means than,
according TO the general idea, he pos
sessed The father of Dora was a good
manager in this respect. and has had
numerous imitators.
LEGAL ORATORY,
Dickens has given the world very clever
pen pictures Ct legal oratcry in the famous
suit of Bardwell against Pickwick. phe
whole scene Is irresistibly comic. The fat
little judge. who bobbed 10 the bar. ard
who, when seated. press ted to the SPEC
tatCrS a broad red face and less than
half of capacious waistcoat. who went
to sleep while the trial was going on, and
3king up suddenly wrote down something
with "A pen that had no ink, to show that
he had given Perfect attention to the pro-
ceedings of the coloquy with the chemist.
who dad not wish to serve on the jury. the
connection in the court caused by the In
terrupton from Weller. ST.: the cxamina-
ton of Mr. Wrinkle: the cross-examina-
ton of sam Weller, ST.; the examination
OF Mr. Wrinkle. the cross-cxamination of
Sam Weller. and. above all. the pompous
speech OF Sergeant Buzfuz, and his labor
icus efforts to build up a case on nothing.
men of windy oratory, the Buzfuz speech
Is inimitable. Dickens must have heard
many a similar character ere he sat down
to compost this pretentious argument.
But aztec all. BuZfuZ was a true lawyer.
He was Obliged to make case. ard II the
material was poor that was his misfor-
tune, not mis- fault; he did the best he could
with such matter as he had. No doubt
he would have preferred a few comproms-
ing notes written by Mr.. P.ckwick as docu-
ments in the case, but not having them
he took the scraps OF paper the enc about
the warming pan, the other about the
chops and tomato sauce, and did the best
he could with them. His eloquence over
these two tribes eXcites our merriment.
hut while We laugh We should not forget
that not a day passes but what some law
yer does what he can to build up a case
on no better documentary evidence than
that at the command of Sergeant Buztuz.
MESsRS. DoDSON Il FOGG.
Tho Pickwick breach of promise suit i'm
mortalized two legal lights, who have ever
since been pilloried as the typical shy
sters. Dodson Il Fogg Will probably never
be forgotten as long as there is litigation
in the English language, for in these two
characters Dickens has portrayed the par
asites of the legal profession. They are
the moancst type of scoundre;s Tor they
take advantage Of the small legal knowi-
Cypress people who know less than them
selves and have been unfortunate enough
TO fan into their clutches. The scene IN
their office when the poor dcbter iinds
that additional papers have been filed in
his case, adding materially to the costs.
Is typical of the methods employed by the
haser sort of attorneys everywhere, their
Willingness to take up the case of Mrs.
l'ardell' on spec" and charge nothing
for the services in case of failure, ana
the roguish trick by which they in
duce Mrs. liarlell" to sign documents
which place her in their power and enable
them to send her to the prison already
tenanted by the unlucky "Pickwick," are
all shyster tricks of the lowest dcscrip-
ton. Yet their shrewdncss excites the
admiration even of "Pickwick's" attor-
neys, and the way i'm which they intro
duce Mrs. BardeG' and her friends into
court draws from him the commeudatory
remark, strictly professional in charac-
ter; Very clever fellows. Dodson II
FogS, Very good idea of effect" lie is
himself of the same tribe, and their clever
ness in working on the feelings of the
Jury and spectators is to him an object
lesson in legal practice.
THE LAWS DELAY.
The famous quotation from Shakespeare
mas been made the text for many dis
courses on the injustice done by the I'M
reasosable delay of the law. but no one
mas better impressed the lesson on the
mind mind OF the world than Dickens, in his
great chancery tale. AS poor "Jarn-
nyce' says, Keep out of chuncerv. lt's