Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics - Second Series

James Williams

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Project Gutenberg's Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics, by James Williams This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics Second Series Author: James Williams Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25281] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIEFLESS BALLADS AND LEGAL LYRICS *** Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) BRIEFLESS BALLADS BY THE SAME AUTHOR SIMPLE STORIES OF LONDON VERSES SUITABLE FOR RECITATION Crown 8vo, cloth, price 1s. 6d. ETHANDUNE AND OTHER POEMS Crown 8vo, cloth, price 2s. 6d. BRIEFLESS BALLADS AND LEGAL LYRICS SECOND SERIES BY JAMES WILLIAMS "You will think a lawyer has as little business with poetry as he has with justice. Perhaps so. I have been too partial to both." —Thomas Love Peacock, in Melincourt LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1895 [All Rights Reserved] Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Hyphenation has been standardised. [5] CONTENTS (The First Series was published anonymously in 1881, and is now out of print.

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• Publié par: chewyor
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 18
• Langue: English

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Project Gutenberg's Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics, by James Williams This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Briefless Ballads and Legal Lyrics        Second Series Author: James Williams Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25281] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRIEFLESS BALLADS AND LEGAL LYRICS *** Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) BRIEFLESS BALLADS BY THE SAME AUTHOR SIMPLE STORIES OF LONDON VERSES SUITABLE FOR RECITATION Crown 8vo, cloth, price 1s. 6d. ETHANDUNE AND OTHER POEMS Crown 8vo, cloth, price 2s. 6d. BRIEFLESS BALLADS NAD

LEGAL LYRICS SECOND SERIES B Y  JAMES WILLIAMS " w Y it o h u     po wi e l t l  ry t   h a in s k     he a     h la as w   y w e i r t   h  h j a u s s   ti a c s e   .  lit P tl e e r   ha b p u s si   n s e o s .  s I have been  — to T o h   o pa m rt a i s a   l  L t o o v  b e  ot P h e ." acock, in Melincourt LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 5981 [All Rights Reserved] Transcriber's Note: Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. Hyphenation has been standardised. CONTENTS (The First Series was published anonymously in 1881, and is now out of print. Some of the following pieces have already appeared in periodicals.) EGAP 9 51 12 52 72 03 43 63 73 14 Justinian at Windermere A Vision of Legal Shadows The Squire's Daughter Her Letter in Chambers Law and Poetry Somewhere Roman Law Bologna A Garden Party in the Temple The Spinning-House of the Future ]5[

How we found our Verdict A Greek Libel Le Temps Passé Lawn Tennis in the Temple Gardens A Ballade of Lost Law Comœdia Juris Cases— Mylward v. Weldon Hampden v. Walsh Willis v. The Bishop of Oxford Dashwood v. Jermyn Ex Parte Jones Finlay v. Chirney Pollard v. Photographic Company The Minneapolis Case Commonwealth v. Marzynski Translations— Greek Anthology Martial Cino da Pistoia Pedro Lopez de Ayala noriP Interi P o i r e is ri   a a  i m n a   t M  T e e di m o p  p li l  j e a ni m o   r P  u e n g d a a s   u ru s i   t a . ulas J USTINIAN   AT  W INDERMERE We took a hundredweight of books To Windermere between us, Our dons had blessed our studious looks, Had they by chance but seen us. Maine, Blackstone, Sandars, all were there, And Hallam's Middle Ages, And Austin with his style so rare, 44 74 05 25 35 65 95 16 26 66 07 17 17 37 77 18 98 29 49 49 []6 ]7[ ]9[

And Poste's enticing pages. We started well: the little inn Was deadly dull and quiet, As dull as Mrs. Wood's East Lynne, Or as the verse of Wyatt. Without distraction thus we read From nine until eleven, Then rowed and sailed until we fed On potted char at seven. Two hours of work! We could devote Next day to recreation, Much illness springs, so doctors note, From lack of relaxation. Let him read law on summer days, Who has a soul that grovels; Better one tale of Thackeray's Than all Justinian's novels. At noon we went upon the lake, We could not stand the slowness Of our lone inn, so dined on steak (They called it steak) at Bowness. We wrestled with the steak, when lo! Rose Jack in such a hurry, He saw a girl he used to know In Suffolk or in Surrey. What matter which? to think that she Should lure him from his duty! For Jack, I knew, would always be A very slave to beauty. And so it proved, alas! for Jack Grew taciturn and thinner, Was out all day alone, and back Too often late for dinner. What could I do? His walks and rows All led to one conclusion; I could not read; our work, heaven knows, Was nothing but confusion. Like Jack I went about alone, Saw Wordsworth's writing-table, And made the higher by a stone The "man" upon Great Gable. At last there came a sudden pause To all his wanderings solus, He learned what writers on the laws Of Rome had meant by dolus. The Suffolk (was it Surrey?) flirt Without a pang threw over ]01[ ]11[ ]21[

aw tohs dnoces yM .noissessop fo aitiv ehT dima pihsnaidraug denokcer I ,noitercsid ni gnikcal saW did I lla tub ,owt derewsna I .nainitsuJ erofeb devil daH enon stsiruj namoR eht fo tahT noinipo sih sa evag eH ,eno ylno did kcaJ !snoitseuq tsruC .egdelwonk ot semitemos dneterP sloof tahw sevlesruo naht retteb waS egelloc gniveilebnu ruO ;sloohcS drofxO eht neht dna ,shtnom eerhT .secaf ruo denrut drawhtuos dnA skoorb dna sllih dna sekal eht tfel eW ,sesac ni erom ecno dekcap saW skoob fo thgiewderdnuh eht yad txeN .ladyR ni miws a deyojnE yad suoudra eht dne ot neht dnA ,eldi etiuq neeb ton dah eW yas ot erom gninrom eno daer eW .revol rehcir a thguac dnA ,trid ekil skrow sih lla dna kcaJ rooP revo werht gnap a tuohtiW ]41[ []51 []31 ]A[ .dedesrepus neeb sah ,nem drofxO fo redro dlo eht ot raed snoitutitsni rehto ynam ekil ,rumatset eht ,nettirw saw evoba eht ecniS .rumamA drow teews taht yB thgil edam traeh yvaeh s'kcaJ saw roN ]A[ ,rumatset eulb on emac erehT ,thgin taht ylsseltiurf detiaw eW .atal apluc fo esuaceB lliw s'rotærp a tsetta ton dluoC atadommoc taht dleh I ,llits rediw s

A V ISION   OF  L EGAL  S HADOWS A case at chambers left for my opinion Had taxed my brain until the noon of night, I read old law, and loathed the long dominion Of fiction over right. I had consulted Coke and Cruise and Chitty, The works where ancient learning reigns supreme, Until exhausted nature, moved with pity, Sent me a bookman's dream. Six figures, all gigantic as Gargantua, Floated before my eyes, and all the six Were shades like those that once the bard of Mantua Saw by the shore of Styx. The first was one with countenance imperious, His toga dim with centuries of dust; "My name," quoth he, "is Aulus and Agerius,[B] My voice is hoarse with rust. "Yet once I played my part in law proceedings, And writers wrote of one they never saw, I gave their point to formulæ and pleadings, I lived but in the law." The second had a countenance perfidious; What wonder? Prætors launched their formulæ In vain against Numerius Negidius, And not a whit cared he. With voice of high contempt he greeted Aulus; "In interdicts thou wast mine enemy, Once passed no day that students did not call us As parties, me and thee. "On paper I was plaintiff or defendant, On paper thou wast evermore the same; We lived apart, a life that was transcendant, For it was but a name. "I hate thee, Aulus, hate thee," low he muttered, "It was by thee that I was always tricked, My unsubstantial bread I ate unbuttered In dread of interdict. "And yet 'twas but the sentiment I hated: Like thee I ne'er was drunk e'en vi or clam, [C] With wine that was no wine my thirst was sated. Like thee I was a sham." Two country hinds in 'broidered smocks next followed, ]61[ ]71[ []81

Each trundled him a cart-wheel by the spokes, Oblivion now their names hath well-nigh swallowed, For they were Stiles and Nokes. They spake no word, for speech to them was grievous, With bovine eyes they supplicated me; "We wot not what ye will, but prithee leave us, Unlettered folk are we." "Go," said I, "simple ones, and break your fallows, Crush autumn apples in the cider press, Law, gaffer Stiles, thy humble name still hallows, Contracted to J. S." Another pair of later time succeeded, With buckles on their shoes and silken hose, A garb that told it was to them who heeded John Doe's and Richard Roe's. "Ah me! I was a casual ejector,[D] In the brave days of old," I heard one say; "I knew Elizabeth, the Lord Protector I spake with yesterday." To whom in contradiction snarled the other, "There was no living blood our veins to fill. Both you and I were nought but shadows, brother, And we are shadows still." Room for a lady, room, as at Megiddo The hosts made way for passage of the king, For from the darkness crept there forth a widow In weeds and wedding ring. "I am the widow, I, whereof the singers Of Scotland sang, their cruel words so smote My tender heart, that ofttimes itched my fingers To take them by the throat. "He scoffed at me, dour bachelor of Glasgow, [E] If I existed not for him, the knave, 'Twas all his fault who let some bonnie lass go Unwedded to her grave." [B]Aulus Agerius and Numerius Negidius are names continually occurring in the Roman institutional writers as typical names of parties to legal process, corresponding very much to the John Stiles and John Nokes of the older English law-books, and the Amr and Zaid of Mohammedan law. John Stiles was frequently contracted to J. S. [C]Vi and clam were part of the form of the interdict, which was a mode of procedure by which the prætor settled the right of possession of landed property. [D] e T n h t e ir   e c ly a   s i u m a a l  g e i j n e a c r t y o   r  pe w r a s s o   n J ,  o o h f n     m D u o c e h ,     i w m h p o o   rt w a a n s c ,  e l   ik in e     t R h i e c   h o a l r d d     a R ct o io e, n     a o n f ejectment abolished in 1852. [E]T m h e e m  a b ll e u r s s i   o o n f    t is h   e t   o  S t c h o e t   ti " s A h d   v b o a c r, a   t m e a s' r   ri W e i d d   o or w   s u   n F m u a n r d r , i " e   d s . u   b T s h c e r   ib n e o d n   - t e o x   i b st y e  a n l t l ]91[ []02

v w e id rs o e w .     o S f  e th e  e  " u T n he m   a B rr a ie c d h   e a lo d r v 's o   ca D t r e e   a h m a , s "     b b e y e   n J   o a  h fr n e   q R u a e n n k t i   n s e u , b   j ( e J c o t u o r f n  l a e l g o al f Jurisprudence, vol. xxii. p. 155), "My Widow," by David Crichton (id. vol. xxiv. p. 51). T HE  S QUIRE ' S  D AUGHTER We crawled about the nursery In tenderest years in tether, At six we waded in the sea And caught our colds together. At ten we practised playing at A kind of heathen cricket, A croquet mallet was the bat, The Squire's old hat the wicket. At twelve, the cricket waxing slow, With home-made bow and arrow We took to shooting—once I know I all but hit a sparrow. She took birds' nests from easy trees, I climbed the oaks and ashes, 'Twas deadly work for hands and knees, Deplorable for sashes. At hide and seek one summer day We played in merry laughter, 'Twas then she hid her heart away, I never found it after. So time slipped by until my call, For out of the professions I chose the Bar as best of all, And joined the Loamshire Sessions. The reason for it was that there Her father, short and pursy, Doled out scant justice in the chair And even scanter mercy. As Holofernes lost his head To Judith of Bethulia, So I fell victim, but instead Of Judith it was Julia. ]12[ ]22[ ]32[

My speech left juries in the dark, Of Julia I was thinking, And once I heard a coarse remark About a fellow drinking. I practised verse in leisure time Both in and out of season, It was indubitably rhyme, Occasionally reason. I lacked the cheek to tell my woes, Had not concealment fed on My damask cheek, but left my nose With twice its share of red on? Too horrible was this suspense, At last, in desperation I went to Loamshire on pretence Of death of a relation. The Squire was beaming; "Julia's gone To London for a visit, But with a wedding coming on That's not surprising, is it? "Old friends like you will think, no doubt, That she is young to marry, But ever since she first came out, She's been engaged to Harry." H ER  L ETTER   IN  C HAMBERS I sat by the fire and watched it blaze, And dreamed that she wrote me a letter, And for that dream to the end of my days To Fancy I owe myself debtor. Next day there came the postman's knock, The morning was bright and sunny, And showed me a sheaf of circulars, stock Attempts to get hold of my money. 'Mid correspondence of this dull kind A dainty notelet lay hidden, It seemed as though it had half a mind To consider itself forbidden. The writing was like herself, complete, With a touch of her queenly bearing, 42[] ]52[

So Venus wrote when she ordered in Crete Her doves to take her an airing. Inside it was just as promising, 'Twas a pressing invitation To dine at her house to-morrow, and bring My book for her approbation. For I have published, be it confessed, A little volume of verses, And in the volume whatever is best The praise of herself rehearses. I sit by the fire, and again I dream A happier dream than ever, I see her beautiful eyes soft gleam As she murmurs, "How lovely—how clever!" Her criticism may be commonplace, But who can be angry after Now sweet with pity he marks her face, Now bright with impulsive laughter? L AW   AND  P OETRY In days of old did law and rime A common pathway follow, For Themis in the mythic time Was sister of Apollo. The Hindu statutes tripped in feet As daintily as Dryads, And law in Wales to be complete Was versified in triads. The wise Alfonso of Castile Composed his code in metre Thereby to make its flavour feel A little bit the sweeter. But law and rime were found to be A trifle inconsistent, And now in statutes poetry Is wholly non-existent. Still here and there some advocate Before his fellows know it Has had bestowed on him by fate The laurel of the poet. Let him who has been honoured so, In truth a rara avis, Find precedents in Cicero []62 ]72[ ]82[

And our Chief Justice Davis; And more than all in Cino; he, So plaintive a narrator Of fair Selvaggia's cruelty, Won fame as a glossator. Let him remember Thomas More And Scott and Alciatus, And Grotius with an ample store Of most divine afflatus. But let him, if his bread and cheese Depend on his profession, Bethink him that the art of these Was not their sole possession. The stream that flows from Helicon Is scarcely a Pactolus, A richer prize is theirs who con Dull treatises on dolus. 'Tis well that some bold spirits dare To cut themselves asunder From bonds of law like old Molière, While lawyers gaze in wonder. The world had been a poorer place Had Goethe lived by pleading Or Tasso won a hopeless case With Ariosto leading. S OMEWHERE Somewhere in a distant star, Cities of Cocaigne there are, Paradises of the Bar. Somewhere 'neath another sun Counsel cease to see the fun Lurking in a judge's pun. Somewhere courts are fair to see, Beauty joins utility, Ushers answer courteously. Somewhere there are bailiwicks ]92[ ]03[