The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-21

Raby advises the crown in riminal cases,
and sometimes. but not often, appears in
court in his own proper person. l forget
which Of our English wits 1t was VINO ex-
pIained that tobacco is called the Indian
weed because IL Is not a weed and does
not come from India. The stranger might
have imagined that 1t was on some sucn
principle that Raby, X. C., took the title
of Little Boanerges," by which he was
popularity known for years. He Is a man
of very handsome presence, and his address
is even singular for its refinement and
suavity. He Is as little like a Boanerges
rs can easily be conceived. but the fact Is
that the nickname was a family inner
itance and came to him from his father,
who was for years the most eminent OF
thieves advocates-a compound Of BuZfuZ
and Jaggers. a bullying and truculent per-
pon, whose constant proclamation Ii was
that he was not to be put down by clamor.
The more amiable and submissive a profess
sional adversary was disposed to be the
more resolved and determined not to be
put down by clamor vas Boanerges. At
the. Old Bailey and elsewhere in London
his compeers had his measure. and so had
the recorder and the lord mayor and the
stipendiary magistrates. AS a consequence
he lacked in own a certain efflorescence
OF splendor which he displayed outside Of
1t. To see him in his real majesty you had
to find him In the country at a petty ses-
sions. where he would terrify the unpaid
justices out Of their wits, and would so
rowbeat the clerk and the adverse wit
nesses and the prosecutor and the police
that he was like a magniied Punch broke
loose and stunning everybody who came
IL UTaa q
typical bully of the bar at a time when the
bar tolerated this sort Of manifestation.
In truth. he was a forid exaggeration of
the type, and the name of Boanerges
seemed to express him mildly.
II he were not a bad as well as a disso-
lutte man he might have brought an action
against his face for libel. L remember him
on the Oxford circuit. where I first saw
him. He came bursting into court with
that huge infamed port-wine countenance
of his. with it's evil bright pigs eyes, and
1 thought 1 had never seen a wickeder
face. He defended a murderer that day-a
brute whose guilt was patent-and not
merely patent, but horribly deliberate and
cruel-and in his address to the jury he
wept over this villain and beat his breast
about him. and defied anybody who thought
him guilty ever to go to sleep any more.
with such a perfection of audacity as 1
had never seen.
His income was probably not a large one
at any time. for his clients were not. as a
rule. among those who can afford to pay
humping fees. He took his son early
away from school. and attached him to his
own person. The present Mr.. Raby, K. c.,
carried his fathers brief bag and picked UP
his earliest knowledge of criminal jurispru-
dence-in which he Is now an acknowledged
master-in the humblest and most fugitive
manner Perhaps nothing more fortunate
ever happened to the boy than when that
Buzfuz-cum-Jaggers OF a father finally
went home. He has not bullied a witness,
or defed a judge, or cozened a jury, this
thirty years.
A friendly solicitor gave little Boanerges
his articles. and the boy read industriously
and got himself called to the bar, and for
many a long day and year wished himself
Just that one step in life backward He
had ample time. like Gilbert's prototype of
him, to grow tired of third-class Journeys
and dinners of bread and water. The stuff
. gown in which he went into court was so
shabby and threadbare that he was
ashamed of 1T long and long before he saw
his first brief. 1t is very probable that the
prosperous and famous Mr.. Raby, K. c.,
could not at this moment tell you how he
found a dinner on three days a week in
those bitter years, If, indeed. he could be
quite sure of having dined so often.
Curious 1t is to reflect, and never can
cease to be curious. on what unexpected
happenings our fates depend. Here is a
cultured, eminent and universally respected
gentleman, who might to the end of his
days have languished in obscurity If 1t
had not been that he found and took the
opportunity of choking the life out of a
fellow-creature; for. though Arthur Raby
never laid a hand on Robert wearman, he
pinioned him and put the rope about his
neck and pulled the bolt beneath his feet
as surely as Calcroft did it all. Robert
Wearman might have been alive to-day or
might have died in his bed, wealthy and
respected. and Arthur Raby might have
haunted the courts until he died of inani-
ton. without any guess OF the faculties he
carried about with him, If 1t had not been
for one OF the strangest of apparent acct
dents.
Sarah Wearman was a wealthy spinster
who came of a German stock. She was
sixty-five years of age, owned a freehold
farm, a considerable quantity of small
house property In a midland town, and
: about $1,000 in consols. She enjoyed rough
ly an income of some $3.50 a year, and she
had but two relatives In the world. OF
these. one-that Robert Wearman of whom
mention has already been made-was the
son OF her brother, and the second, William
Hargett-was her sisters SON. These two
nephews alike professed to be devoted to
her. which. considering the expectations
they had. was not very surprising. Hargett
was a man approaching middle age. He
was a farmer ana was generally known to
be unprosperous in his business, but he
was industrious and frugal. and his aunt's
reputation for wealth and her known
friendship for her nephew helped to keep
him in decent position towards his credi-
tors. Robert Wearman was a man OF an
other character. He was younger than his
cousin by some fifteen years. had lived a
wandering life. having sailed for some
years before the mast and herded sheep in
Australia, and had set up In business by
his aunt's bounty as a tobacconist and toy
dealer in that very assize town I'm which
he afterward came to be tried for his life.
He was a boon companion and sang a cap
ital song. His accomplishments helped him
to neglect his business and to run into
debt. His creditors pressed him. and his