The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-02-12
TOLD BY A LONDON LAWYER.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY THAT SERVED 4 USEFUL PURPOSE.

How a Faithful Attorneys Clerk Frus-
 trated the Scheme ofa shreyyd Usurer
 by n Delicate Drawing of the Lime Be-
 tween the Permissible and the For-
 bidden.
 In writing the account of the narrow
 escape I had from liability to a charge
 of professional negligence in the case of
 the wills of two maiden sisters living at
 Croomedene, I was reminded of another
 incident which occurred to me earlier
 in my career, before I left London for
 Georgetown, in which George Croome, the
 brother of the two old sisters, was con-
 cerned. l first became acquainted with
 the family through staying one summer
 in charming village on the borders of
 Ripping forest, in the county of Essex,
 about twenty-five miles out of London,
 at the time I was reading up for the
 final examination. Of this village, Can-
 on Croome, their father, was the rector;
 an acquaintance made casually in the
 railway train ripened into intimacy,
 l
 don, Canon Croome was the earliest eli
 ent whose name was recorded on my
 books
 It was at this time that the worthy
 old clergyman consulted me as to the
 many claims made upon him by credit
 ors of his scapegrace son. George, and
 felt compelled to advise him to let me persuade George to go and live abroad out of their reach, while I would
 endeavor to arrange terms with the
 most reasonable of them. So it was that one of the last acts I was called
 upon to do for the good old clergyman was to prepare will for him by which the income only of considerable capi- tai sum was made payable to George by monthly payments at the discretion of trustees, and in case of the income
 becoming alienated by act of Jaw, such as bankruptcy, or by any act on Georges own part, the payments of in come were to be suspended at the dis erection of the trustees, and handed oven to his sisters.
 One day, about the year 1865, old Can on ,Croome had a sudden stroke and died in few hours, before George could be summoned home from abroad. I had arranged with all the honest creditors. Canon Croome had insisted on paying in full all debts for necessary expenses of living, going, indeed, a good way be- yond the strict interpretation of the word necessary" but he sternly refus- ed to pay gambling debts, or money claimed by professional money lenders. The principal debt hanging over Georges head was one to notorious money lender named Grimes, of whom I will give a description later on mean while I have a pleasanter picture to draw of a really faithful clerk. What | a blessing to a lawyer really clever, | clerk isl Such a blessing | [ possessed in the person of George Car ter, who must at one time have been | l queer character in his way. He knew of everything; how and | where he acquired his knowledge of all | the shady corners and bypaths of the lark side of London life without getting lis own personal character sullied pass sd my comprehension. I knew nothing If his boyhood, he was 35 years old be- lore I stumbled across him; by some title service I rendered to him I had saved his home from being wrecked by 1 miserable money lender. 1 had taken he matter up at the request of rela- i've, and fie gratitude to me for saV- ng his wife from want and his home 1 rom wreck constituted fund upon which I could ever afterward rely when ,yer had to draw upon it. l can only ;ay that when I had any difficulty be- Or me, any very private inquiry which rad to be made among the shady by ways of city life, any little delicate ne- sotiation to be carried through for a ,lient which was out of my own line, George Carter could always be relied 1pon to get the matter through We lad a working understanding between is; on his side he was never to pass yer the border line of strict profession Il propriety; so as to jeopardize the rood name which I was striving to &C., iuire among my brethren in the profess ion: and on my side I was never to ,e unduly inquisitive as to his method f working either before or after events. ut to trust hinl implicitly.
 In court running out of Old Broad treet, London, the man Grimes car jed on hie business, nominally that of
 lawyer; his best friend would have cit constrained to admit that his per onal character was shady-the mem- ers of the legal profession who had to o business with him did not hesitate 3 call him, in professional confidence, course an unmitigated ecoundrel. aiken at an early age into the office of
 low-class lawyer in London, he had ucceeded in making himself so useful l the office that his employer had for he sake of securing his continuous ser ices, given him his articles; and before $ le old mans death, which occurred ' oon after the five years apprenticeship { anne to an end, Grimes had become a 1 ( lIl-fedged attorney and solicitor, and l a few years after starting had estab- shed a reputation for smartness which l )on procured for him lucrative prac- I ce in criminal cases. Not that his t usiness had been confined exclusively I advocacy; by the sllilful use of ready t loney loaned out in small sums at ex- I rbitant interest to the needy and im- 2 he had become a master in | le occult science of making money be- S st money; and after a few years he :. ave up advocacy and devoted his ener- es to what he termed his private prac- I ce, money lending. In this delicate i ak of life he was an adept; his tongue s