His style of speaking is marked
by a nervous freedom of the most convincing character; he aims little at
refinement, and labours more to make himself intelligible than elegant.
In zeal for his clients, no man is more indefatigable; and he always
appears to dart forward with an undaunted resolution to overcome and
accomplish. But here I must stop sketching characters, and refer you
to a very able representation of the court, the bar, and jury, by
our friend Transit, in which are accurate likenesses of all I have
previously named, and also of the following worthies, Messrs. Raine,
Pollock, Ashworth, Courtney, Starkie, Williams, Parke, Rotch, Piatt,
Patterson, Raper, Browne, Lawrence, and Whately, to which are added some
whom--
"God forbid me if I slander them with the title of learned,
for generally they are not."--Nash's Lenten Stuff, 1599.
[Illustration: page361]
We were just clearing the steps of the court house, when a
jolly-looking, knowing sort of fellow, begged permission to speak to
Echo. A crimson flush o'erspread Tom's countenance in a moment. Transit,
who was down, as he phrased it, tipped me a wink; and although I had
never before seen either of the professional brothers-in-law, John Doe
and Richard Roe, the smart jockey-boots, short stick, sturdy appearance,
and taking manners of the worthy, convinced me at once, that our new
acquaintance was one or other of those well-known personages: to
be brief, poor Tom was arrested for a large sum by a Bond-street
hotel-keeper, who had trusted him somewhat too long.
Pages:
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478