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

The ruthless reformers of these evil days have done away with any necessity for the foregoing as a precedent, but it may serve to remind the profession of that paradise of compensation from which theoretically they have been ejected. The lawyers used to be paid in proportion to the number of words they employed. So naturally they never were distinguished for conciseness. As the hackman carries the stranger roundabout so as to make a large demand, so the ancient lawyer beat about the bush with his verbal tediousness. Nowadays he goes straighter to his destination, but the fare seems about as high as

ever.

DEATH OF SAMPSON BRASS.

I take it for granted that every lawyer is acquainted with Mr. Sampson Brass, the attorney of Dickens's "Old

Curiosity Shop." Our concluding burlesque will relate to him. It is somewhat notorious that there is one occasion on which all the lawyers speak well of any other particular member of the profession; and that is, when he is dead, and his survivors hold a "bar-meeting" over him. According to such meetings, no bad lawyer has ever died; and this may account for the lowered tone of the profession, which the good editors of newspapers are so unanimously lamenting in these days. Mr. John C. Greene of Troy, N.Y., some years ago discovered, and transmitted to "The Albany Law Journal" for publication, an account of the proceedings of the bar on the death of Mr. Brass; and by his permission, I reproduce it here:

"POSTHUMOUS JUSTICE.

"The bales of old paper and rags gathered from the ends of the earth, to be 'worked up' by Yankee mills, are full of curiosities. The chiffonier's hook penetrates, sooner or later, the most secret places, and brings up to the light many strange matters, bundles of letters tied with faded ribbon; huge rolls of manuscript, 'rejected' (when their rejection meant starvation perhaps), and gathered from publishers' waste-baskets; quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore; account-books of defunct firms; pamphlets and tracts without number. Do you ever think, brother, upon what a weird palimpsest you are drawing your little innocent bill of costs, or your coldblooded affidavit? No, not you.

"Not long since, while visiting the extensive works of my friends Pulp & Co. of Pulpville, the distinguished paper-manufacturers, in a huge pile of material about to be placed in the bleacher, I noticed and picked up a

pamphlet, which, as it contained many familiar names, attracted my attention, and interested me at once. It is entitled 'Proceedings and Resolutions of a meeting of the Attorneys and Solicitors of London, upon the death of Sampson Brass, Esq., late of Bevis Marks,' and contains the speeches and resolutions made upon that melancholy occasion. I regret that the proceedings are too lengthy to be published entire in this journal; but as they are, I have made a synopsis of the more important parts, which I hasten to present to my professional brethren.

"The pamphlet appears to have been prepared by a reporter who was present. It begins with the statement that the meeting was largely attended, and was impressive in its solemnity. Among those present were observed the Hon. T. Traddles, one of the barons of the exchequer ; Mr. Conversation Kenge and Mr. Carboy of Lincoln's Inn; Mr. Dodson and Mr. Fogg of Freeman's Court; Mr. Perker of Gray's Inn; Mr. Vholes of Furnival's Inn; Mr. Witherden, Mr. Abel Garland, Mr. Jaggers, Mr. Wemick, Mr. Solomon Pell, Mr. Mortimer Lightwood, of the Temple; Mr. Guppy, and many others.

"The meeting was organized by calling to the chair the Hon. Baron Traddles, who said, upon taking his seat, "Again, gentlemen, pallid death has visited our profession; and we are called upon to pay the last tribute of respect to a departed brother. This occasion is one of more than ordinary interest and solemnity. Our distinguished brother, Mr. Tupton Tulkinghorn, after a long life of assiduous devotion to his profession, has passed to his reward. Mr. Tulkinghorn was a man of no common mould. He brought to the conduct of his business great

natural talents and assiduous cultivation. Untiring in his application, his causes were thoroughly prepared ; and no contingency could arise on their trial which his forethought and research had not provided for. In his devotion to the interests of his clients, he afforded to all of us a bright example of professional fidelity, limited and qualified, as it was, only by his quick moral perception and sterling integrity. As a lawyer, his loss to the profession is irreparable. As a man, the kindliness of his nature, his courtesy and affability in his daily intercourse with his professional brethren, his generosity and frankness, his scorn of all that was mean or dishonorable, has fondly endeared him to us; and it will be long before the profession cease to cherish his memory and revere his virtues."'

"Mr. Guppy and Mr. Garland were then appointed secretaries. Mr. Pell, Mr. Perker, and Mr. Wemick, committee on resolutions.

"Mr. Kenge then spoke as follows:

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[It is to be regretted that I am compelled to omit portions of the speech of Mr. K., as my space is limited; and in condensing it, it will lose much of the fervor and earnestness of the original.] He said, 'That the critical analysis of character was often a difficult task, nearly impossible when it was masked behind the conventionalities, and he was sorry to add the hypocrisies, of life: but in the case of our late friend and brother, the task was easier; for so open and generous was his nature, that hypocrisy was to him an impossibility; and in every occurrence of his life the whole man stood revealed.' Mr. K. spoke feelingly of Mr. Brass in his relations with his professional brethren and his clients, and of his devotion to

the interest of the latter. 'One incident in his life,' Mr. K. continued, 'which, properly understood, reflected credit upon his professional character, had been seized upon by an anonymous Bohemian scribbler, writing under the pseudonyme of "Boz," who never lost an opportunity of attacking our profession, and so distorted as to create for a short time an unfavorable impression of our friend in non-professional circles; but he thanked Heaven, the deceased never for a moment lost the confidence and esteem of the profession. That,' said Mr. K., 'I believe to be the proudest eulogium that can be passed upon any lawyer.' Mr. K. remarked at length upon the attributes of the deceased as a man and a lawyer, and spoke of the irreparable loss the profession had sustained by his death. But,' said Mr. K., ‘he has gone, full of years and honors, to take his place in the stately vista of the pillars of our profession.' Mr. K. concluded by an affecting reference to the inroads which death had lately made in the ranks of the profession, regretted our inability to check the march of the ruthless destroyer, counselled resignation to the inscrutable decrees of Providence, and an unfaltering trust in the beneficent intentions of the Creator. He eloquently and feelingly compared the consolations of religion with those which philosophy affords, and concluded with the quotation, —

"Philosophy and reason! Ah, how vain

Their lessons to the feelings! They but teach

To hide them deeper, and to show a calm,

Unruffled surface to the idle gaze.'

"He was followed,' says the report, 'by Mr. Vholes

of Furnival's, who spoke as follows: