Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-09


! word here and a phrase there generahy
| indicate their early training and sho"
hat while all the great principles may
| not have stuck I'm their minds. they AT
| least have retained the main ideas OF TINS
| splendid science.
Dickens himself came into actual touch
with the brethren OF the green bag. lie
had eighteen months experience as once
boy 10 an attorney. and his subsequent
two years service as a reporter IN DOC
tors Commons, and other courts gave
! him excellent opportunities 20 observe
the lawyers Of his day. and acquire con-
siderable knowledge Of the practical worK-
Ing of the law itself.
Taken as a whole. his works are hafdIy
| complimentary TO the legal proies'lon'
though he lived at a time when laws
| wete severe and poor debtors were
! cruelty harassed by merciless creditors
His tale Of Little Dorrit' gives a me
| Illustration Of the workings OF the poor
| debtor statutes. And in BLEAK House
,vo cot q good idea of q chancery suit
in which the costs ate up the sub1ect mat
! ter of litigation. This story OF the great
! case Of .Jarndyce VS.. Jarndyce has taken
a nrominent place in the books or inns
century and there is no denying that IL
bas done good. In our opinion, however
the DELAYS and costs incident TO chancery
suifs are still subject TO criticism ana
we need another great man TO take up
the cudgels against some features OF Inc
system.
Dickens has sketched all classes Of law
vers for us-the high and the low. the
rich and the poor. In Jarndyce VS.. Jarh-
dvce we 20 before the Chancellor on more
| than one occasion and in Mr.. Pickwick's
unfortunate affair we make the acquaint-
/ ance Of Mr.. Justice Stareleigh. while
the trial Of Charles Darnay introduces
us 10 the Lord chief Justice. And then
we have Mr.. fps and Mr.. Tulkinghorn'
and Perker. and. meanest Of all. the
lawyers clerk, 'humble' Triah Heep.
~ While the great genius Of Gadshih at
tackled the law and lawyers with a FEAR
! less hand. he was hardly more pam
| spoken than the author Of that spienu'u
work. 'Ten Thousand n Year whlch
presents the miserable trio-Quirk' Gam
mon and Snap-whose vallainies were
onl,. foiled when they were met by law
yers equally as able. but far more upright
than themselves. While Warren SHOWS
his leaders what terrible things bad law
vore can do ho likewise shows them what
noble things honest attorneys are capable
of. Indeed. the profession have no cause
to complain against him.
Shakespeare has not very much
IN saw Of the law and lawyers,
and though the court scene In
the 'Merchant Of Venice" is one OF
his finest passages. there are many who
assert that Shylock was not altogether
wrong I'm his contentious. Certainly tie
court was very strict in its Interpretation
Of the contract when it held that in cut
ting his pound OF flesh" shylock had no
right to spill a drop Of blood, etc.
In more recent years our own literature
has been much more charitable TO the
lawyer. Although he frequently fgures
I'm prominent parts. he IS generally a
pretty clever fellow-as he is in zeal life.
unless ne happens Ipl ~ ~ "a 'N' % 'N
of the case. We nave all read that whole
! some story. "The Honorable Peter STIR
ling and been delighted at the hero's
success at the bar and in politics. And
quite recently a Virginia author Of ma
tional reputation. Thomas Nelson Page,
made a lawsuit form a most important
part of his story, Red Rock and intro
duced us to some very aggressive attor-
news. both good and bad.
The reading Of law-books by no means
produces a%varice, or d~eprives a man Of
his love Of fun. Some Of the worlds
greatest writer's ave pored for months
over ~calf-bound volumes. and out of such
ordeals have come great philosophers ana
humorists. Bacon is an ilUstrious EXAM
pie Of the first class. and We are wen
told that poor Bill Nye and genial James
Whitcomb Riley tried their hands at pom
! derous legal tones, bat quilted in disgust.