_Dr. to_ SAMUEL SMART.
£. _s._ _d._
Attending you, in conference, concerning your proposed
Suit, conferring thereon when you could not finally
determine 0 6 8
Attending you again thereon, when found you prepared,
and taking measures accordingly 0 6 8
Entering 0 3 4
Instructions and warrant to woollen-draper 0 5 0
Copy thereof to keep 0 2 0
Instructions to foreman 0 6 8
Difficulty arising as to proceedings, attending him in
consultation 0 6 8
Paid fees to woollen-draper 4 18 6
Attending him thereon 0 6 8
Perusing his receipt 0 3 4
Attending to file same 0 3 4
Filing 0 1 0
Attending button-maker, instructing him 0 6 8
Paid his charges 2 19 0
Having received summons to proceed, perusing and
considering same 0 6 8
Drawing consent, and copy to keep 0 4 4
Postage 0 1 6
Copy order thereon and entering 0 3 0
Appointing consultation as to further proceedings, and
attending same 0 13 4
Foreman having filed a demurrer, preparing argument
against same 0 6 8
Attending long argument on demurrer, when same
overruled 0 10 0
Perusing foreman’s plea 0 6 8
Excepting to same 0 6 8
Entering exceptions 0 3 4
Perusing notice of motion to remove suit, and
preparing valid objections to lay before you 0 10 0
Same being overruled, consent thereto, on an
undertaking 0 6 8
Expenses on removal of suit--paid by you at the time 0 0 0
Writing you my extreme dissatisfaction on finding the
suit removed into the King’s Bench, and that I should
move the court, when you promised to obtain a Rule as
soon as term commenced, and attend me thereon 0 10 0
Conferring with you, in presence of your attendant, at
my house, on the first day of term, when you succeeded
in satisfying me that you were a _Gent. one_, &c. and
an honourable man, and expressed great dissatisfaction
at the proceedings had with the suit while out of my
hands; receiving your instructions to demand of your
_Uncle_ that same should return to me, on my paying
him a _lien_ he claimed thereon, and received from you
his debenture for that purpose 0 13 4
Perusing same, and attending him in St. George’s-
fields therewith and thereon 0 10 0
Paid him, principal and interest 2 10 4
In consideration of circumstances, no charge for
receiving suit back 0 0 0
Perusing letter unexpectedly received from you, dated
from your own house, respecting short notice of trial 0 6 8
Attending you thereon 0 6 8
Attending at Westminster several mornings to try the
suit, when at last got same on 2 2 0
Paid fees 0 12 0
Fee to porter 0 5 0
It being determined that the suit should be put into a
special case, drawing special instructions to Boxmaker
for same 0 13 4
Attending him therewith and thereon 0 6 8
Paid him his fee for special case 2 2 0
Paid his clerk’s fee 0 2 6
Considering case, as settled 0 6 8
Attending foreman for his consent to same, when he
promised to determine shortly 0 6 8
Attending him again thereon to obviate his objections,
and obtained his consent with difficulty 0 6 8
Drawing bill of costs 0 15 0
Fair copy for Mr. ---- to peruse and settle 0 7 6
Attending him therewith 0 6 8
Fee to him settling 0 5 0
Attending him for same 0 6 8
Perusing and considering same, as settled 0 6 8
Attending Mr. ---- again suggesting amendments 0 6 8
Fee to him on amending 0 5 0
Perusing same as amended 0 6 8
Fair copy, with amendments, to keep 0 7 6
Entering 0 5 0
Fair copy for service 0 7 6
Thirty-eight various attendances to serve same 6 6 8
Service thereof 0 6 8
Drawing memorandum of service 0 5 0
Attending to enter same 0 3 4
Entering same 0 2 6
Attending you concerning same 0 6 8
Accepted service of order to attend at the theatre,
and gave consent 0 6 8
Retaining fee at box-office 0 1 0
Service of order on box-keeper 0 6 8
Self and wife, with six children, two of her cousins,
her brother, and his son, two of my brothers, my
sister-in-law, three nephews, four nieces, each
attending for four hours and a half to see the Road to
Ruin, and the Beggars’ Opera, eighty-five hours and a
half, at 3_s._ 4_d._ per hour--very moderate 17 0 10
Coach hire there and back 0 18 0
Attending you to acquaint you with particulars in
general, and concerning settlement particularly 0 6 8
Instructions for receipt 0 3 4
Drawing receipt 0 5 0
Vacation fee 1 1 0
Refreshing fee 0 13 4
Perusing receipt, and amending same 0 6 8
Fair copy to keep 0 2 6
Engrossing on stamp 0 2 6
Paid duty and paper 0 3 1
Fee on ending 2 2 0
Letters and messengers 0 10 0
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£63 0 9
To numerous, various, and a great variety of divers,
and very many letters, messages, and attendances to,
from, on, and upon, you and your agents and others,
pending a negotiation for settlement, far too numerous
to be mentioned; and an infinite deal of trouble, too
troublesome to trouble you with, or to be expressed;
without more and further trouble, but which you must,
or can, or shall, or may know, or be informed of--what
you please
-------------
£
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_Item in a Bill of Costs_
Attending =A= in conference concerning the best mode to indemnify =B=
against =C=’s demand for damages, in consequence of his driving =D=’s
cart against =E=’s house, and thereby breaking the window of a room
occupied by =F=’s family, and cutting the head of =G=, one of his
children, which =H=, the surgeon, had pronounced dangerous, and advising
on the steps necessary for such indemnity. Attending =I= accordingly
thereon, who said he could do nothing without the concurrence of his
brother =J=, who was on a visit to his friend =K=, but who afterwards
consented thereto, upon having a counter-indemnity from =L=. Taking
instructions for, and writing the letter accordingly, but he refused to
accede thereto, in consequence of misconduct in some of the parties
towards his distant relation =M=, because he had arrested =N=, who being
in custody of =O=, the officer, at =P=’s house, was unable to prevail
upon =Q= and =R= to become bail. Attending in consequence upon =S=, the
sheriff, when he said, if he received an undertaking to give a
bail-bond at the return of the writ, the defendant should be discharged.
Attending =T= for undertaking accordingly, conferring thereon; but he
declined interfering without the concurrence of =V=, to whom he was
largely indebted, in whose hands he had lodged several title-deeds as a
collateral security, and who, it appeared, had sent the deeds to his
attorney =U=, for the purpose of preparing a mortgage to =W=, in trust,
for securing his demand, and also of a debt due to =X=. Attending
afterwards on =A=’s clerk =Y=, communicating the result of our numerous
applications, and conferring with him thereon, when he at length
informed me that =Z= had settled the business.
_Legal Recreations._
“To him that goes to law, nine things are requisite: 1. A good deal of
money--2. A good deal of patience--3. A good cause--4. A good
attorney--5. Good counsel--6. Good evidence--7. A good jury--8. A good
judge--and lastly, good luck.”
“Reason is the life of the law, nay, the common law itself is nothing
else but reason.”
* * * * *
If a man says of a counsellor of law, _Thou art a daffa-down-dilly_, an
action lies. So adjudged in Scaccario, and agreed _per totam curiam_.--1
Vin. Abb. 445.
_He hath no more law than Mr. C.’s bull._ These words being spoken of an
attorney, the court inclined that they were actionable, and that the
plaintiff should have judgment, though it was objected that the
plaintiff had not declared that C. had a bull.--Siderfin, 327, pl. 8.
Pasch. 19 Car. II. Baker _v._ Morfue. The chief justice was of opinion,
that if C. had no bull, the scandal was the greater. And it was
pronounced _per curiam_ in the same case, that to say of a lawyer, that
_he has no more law than a goose_, has been adjudged actionable.--Sid.
127, pl. 8.--There is quære added as to the saying, _He hath no more law
than the man in the moon_ (Ib. 2 Kib. 209); the law, doubtless,
contemplating the possibility of there being a man in the moon, and of
his being a good lawyer.
_My lord chief baron cannot hear of one ear_, adjudged actionable, there
being a _colloquium_ of his administration of justice. But not so if
there had been no discourse of his justice.--1 Vin. Ab. 446.
Adjudged, that the _death_ of a parson is a _non-residency_, within 13
Eliz. c. 20, so as to avoid his leases. Mott _v._ Hales, Crok. Eliz. 123
Eden and Whalley’s case:--“One Eden confessed himself guilty of
_multiplication_, and that he had practised the making of
_quintessence_, and the _philosopher’s stone_, by which all metals might
be turned into gold and silver; and also accused Whalley, now a prisoner
in the Tower, of urging and procuring him to practise this art; and that
Whalley had laid out money in red wine and other things necessary for
the said art. And, because this offence is only felony, Eden, the
principal, was pardoned by the general pardon; but Whalley, who was but
accessary in this case, was excepted as one of those who were in the
Tower. The question was moved, whether Whalley should be
discharged;--Quære, the statute of 5 Hen. IV. 4, which enacts, ‘that
none should use to multiply gold or silver, nor use the craft of
multiplication; and if any the same do, that he incur the pain of felony
in this case.’--Quære--Whether there can be any accessary in this new
felony?--1 Dyer, 87, 6, Easter Term, 7 Ed. VI. This statute was repealed
by the stat. of 1 Will. & Mary.”
In the case of _monopolized cards_, there was cited a commission in the
time of Henry V. directed to three friars and two aldermen of London, to
inquire whether the philosopher’s stone was feasible, who returned it
was, and upon this a patent was made out for them to make it--Moore,
675; Dancey’s case.
* * * * *
According to the Asiatic Researches, a very curious mode of trying the
title of land is practised in Hindostan:--Two holes are dug in the
disputed spot, in each of which the plaintiff and defendant’s lawyers
put one of their legs, and remain there until one of them is tired, or
complains of being stung by the insects, in which case his client is
defeated. In this country it is the _client_, and not the _lawyer_, who
puts his _foot into it_.
* * * * *
Professional practice is frequently the subject of theatrical
exhibition. “Giovanni in London” has a scene before going to trial, with
the following