My tongue some secret magic ties,
My murmurs sink in broken sighs;
Condemned to muse eternal care
And ever drop the silent tear ;
Unheard I mourn, unheard I sigh,
Unfriended live, unpity'd die.

I beg you will do me the honour to accept of the trifle that accompanies it, and you will

oblige

Your affectionate admirer,

J. S. COPLEY, Jun.

P.S. Pray excuse the writing."

It is only necessary to add that the lady to whom these verses were addressed still survives, and retains in her possession both the letter and its contents.

Lord Denman possesses poetical talents of no mean order, as the following translation from the Greek Anthology, published in Mr. Bland's collection, will show

"In myrtle my sword will I wreathe,

Like our patriots, the noble and brave,
Who devoted the tyrant to death,
And to Athens equality gave!

"Loved Harmodius, thou never shall die!

The poets exultingly tell,

That thine is the fulness of joy,

Where Achilles and Diomed dwell.

"In myrtle my sword will I wreath,

Like our patriots, the noble and brave,
Who devoted Hipparchus to death,

And buried his pride in the grave.

"At the altar the tyrant they seized,
While Minerva he vainly implored,
And the goddess of wisdom was pleased,
With the victim of liberty's sword.

"In my profession," Sir W. Jones writes to Dr. Parr, "the reputation of a scholar is a dead weight on a person." Literary reputation is, certainly, not the best means for obtaining a practice. A poetical lawyer has described one more available:

THE MODERN WAY TO GET ON AT THE BAR.

"My Commons all eat, and my terms all past,

To the bar I'm now call'd, my dear father, at last;

To its profits I look, to its honours aspire,

The first of our name ever titled esquire.

That I'm proud of the title, I'm free to confess,
No longer plain gentleman now of the press;
By a penny-a-line I was scurvily paid,

I was starving-but think now my fortune is made!
I've struck out such a line as you'll say is by far
The best of all ways to get on at the bar.

Some try to get on as great black-letter readers,
But all now aspire to be thought special pleaders.
The title all claim, it belongs to but few,

Tho' first asked, when you're called, "Pray whose pupil were you?"

I said I was Tidd's, though you know that the fact is,
He taught me, 'tis true, by twice reading his practice.
Some to book-making take, but that's starving employment
I never could read, or in books find enjoyment.

I laugh at translators, call editors ganders,

Who were paid, as was Williams, for editing Saunders;
Be praised, but left briefless, at last find, how hard!
Poor Probity's meed is their only reward.

What were Vaillant's great gains by 's translation of Dyer?
He was made city pleader, but never got higher;
Had that place been a gift, some reward I'd have thought it,
But now with his own proper money he bought it.

But the way to get on I've struck out is much shorter,
I never draw pleadings, I read no reporter-
Those courses don't suit me-the way which I choose,
To get on is by paragraph puffs in the News.
For example, when call'd, there appeared in the Star,
Mr. Lignum, last Wednesday, was call'd to the bar.
And it then lets the world obligingly know,
The home circuit, we hear, Mr. L. means to go.

In the front of the paper, this holds a first place.

And my name in large print stares you full in the face.
Then soon after, we hear, and we hope it is true,
Mr. Lignum, at Clerkenwell, made his debût;
At the Old Bailey, the public, as well as his friends,
With pleasure, will hear he in future attends;
And the night of his call five retainers were sent,
In five parish appeals, for the sessions in Kent.

This, half-news and half-puff, I take care sha'nt be lost,
But appear in the Chronicle, Herald, and Post;

And in all other papers, all which you may guess,
I owe to my gentlemen friends of the press,

Those who crowd up the courts every day, taking notes,
With greasy black heads, and more greasy black coats.
These are all dear friends, and they gave me the hint,
Of th' advantage I'd find from appearing in print.
Your name seen so often, folks naturally say,
'Why Lignum's the most rising man of the day.
You'll find business bring business, and we shall not fail,
Though you move for a nonsuit or justify bail;

That your name shall appear, and you'll seem to have all,
Or, at least, half the business of Westminster Hall.'
Thus you see, my dear father, it answers my ends
To make all these black-headed gentry my friends;
And think, just as I've hit to a title,

The way to get on, and it costs me but little;

At chambers I now and then give them a lunch,

Or, at night, a regale of hog's puddings and punch."

VOL. II.

G

CHAPTER V.

THE BENCH AND THE WOOLSACK.

Independence of the Judges-the Bench in the Days of Elizabeth-Croke-Judge Jenkins-Mr. Justice Alderson - Sir Alan Chambré-George III. and the Judges-Dismissal of Judges-Judicial Corruption-Alfred-Judges in the Days of Edward I.-A Striking Punishment-Latimer's Account of the Judges-Edward VI. and his Judges-Bacon's Corruptions-Charles II.-Judge Yates-Respect for Judicial Dignity-Painful Duties of a Judge-Sir Giles Rooke-Severe Labours of the Chancellor-the Chancellor's PatronageClerical Lawyers-Ancient Court of Chancery-Lay Chancellors-Habits of the Old Judges-Anecdotes of a Judge— Chief Baron Thompson-Lord Eldon-Judicial CharacterJudge and Jury-the Bench and the Bar-Politics and the Judges James II. and the Lawyers-Erskine and HoltAppointment of Judges-Division of the ChancellorshipJudicial Studies-Dilatoriness of the Courts-PrecedentsJus dicere non jus facere-Honours of the Bench-Salaries of the Judges.

"We read that in the case of Humphrey Stafford, that arch-traytor, Hussey, chief justice, besought king Henry VII. that he would not desire to know their opinions before-hand for Humphrey Stafford, for they thought it should come before them in the King's Bench judicially, and then they would do that