Preseverance.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4514, 23 June 1883, Page 1

Preseverance.

■'"■[By Cnißi,E8 r EBAD».j On a certain day in the y«*r 1819; Mr Chitty, an atttofriey in Bhafte»lmrTi wag leavin X bis office for tke day. wbeo hi was met at the door by ■ reßQeeta|>le wmmtk and » chubby fawd boy with a bright eye. He knew lhe woman slitfitlj—« ; widow that kept a small stationer'i ihop ;in the town. She opened her business at ;bDce., "Ob, Mr CijiUy, I have brought I joniln'y.Robert-be kivss me no pe«ee. : bin hi art is it. c ' ton bein^ iv ■ tawyet's ioffice. But there ! I.have not got the" money toappreDtio^ bini Only ir« thought ■ perhaps Vpti, could fiis| ''$*^V%%%f£M o^berlor'biin,,if '^jf^vrit; so wnaU.* 1 ■, Thc»sh«br^6oDraDdt6olfefi>pestllfly tnd the boy's cheeks and eyes warefirad with expectation. " . ; " ; Most country towni at that tine <po«---seised two solicitors that might be called types: tbe old establitihed man, whose firm for eenerations bad done tb« pacific and lucrative business—* ills, settlement*, mortßaKes, Ac—-and the sbarp praeti- ? tioner^whowß^ (be »bler o(tha tw<> : litigation, and had to shake the plum-tTM instead of Bitting under it and opening bis mouth for windfalls. Mr Chittr was No. Bat those sbarp prsctitioosrs tie., vuj apt to be good natartd, and so, looking at the pleading widow and the beaming boy, be felt deposed to oblife tbem, and rather sorry he could not. He said bis was a small office, and he bad no clerk's place vacant; ''and indeed if I bad, he it too yoaoK—why, he i" a mere ohild. 1' I )Jin twelve next sp and so," said the boy, giving the month and tbe day. , "Youxlpii'i^'lojA"'^Ug^ said Mr Chitty, increduoualy. i. ..V " Indeed bqthe is, air," said ike isjidoir; "he never looked bis agt, and writetf a beautiful band." .> , . . y :,"'.""';-■ ' ■■■ "But I tell you I have no facaoc/," aaid M r Chiity*, turnJn« dogged. x " Well, tbank you, sir,!all the saoie," said the widow, wiib the patience of her aex. "Come, Kobert,we mustn't detain the gentleman," f-; '; f So they turned away with disappointment marked on their facet, the boy's eapeciallyr'-i:"->-.''''":;;'' '■*-■■:*-~r : -*-,^..•<•_■-.--,;. _ Then Mr Chitty said, in a haaitating way, "To be sure,there w airaeaaey;but it is not the sort of thint for Ton.'' •• What is it. sir P" asked the widow. " Well; ; we want an office boy." "An officei boy! IJThat dtf you tay, EobertP I suppose it is a Vginniog, sir. WhAt will ho have to do P" "' Why, sweep the office, run errands, carry papers; and'tbit: is not what be is after. Look: nt- him—ho has got that eye of bis fixed oh a couneollor'o wig,ycuniay depend ;. aa<i sweeping a country attorney's office ia, not-tke stepping .stone, to that." Heiadded, f arily,." At least there is no precedent reported." . "L», no, nt",. said,the widow ; •*.He only wants to turn a» honest peony, and be among law papsTß.":t^,r "Ay,ay; to write 'em aadVtell 'em, but not to dust 'em/, •i. s • •' For that matter, sir, I belief c he'd rather be the Dull itself in your office than 1 bide at home with mf." .Here she turned angry with bet offspring for half a momentj •■■'»•' ,% " And so. I would^l?aaid ;th» young master, stoutly indersing-his mother* hyperbole very boldly, though hit own mind . was not of that which originates meUphors, similof, and eoginea of accuracy in geaeral. ,'.-^' " T en I ■■taT-nov jm^re/]. obaerTed Mr Chitty; *' only mind, it is half a crown a week— thatisalL^ ;r .4^...,-.. ', - , The ternHs were accepted, and Master Stobert •Btewd^&shsiible duties. He be n ooWing /twrkl" Prom thit hi d«e ' tonne a

lfiKE~fttatodt ftud ptffMffNtft till it I JMt btNMHM a &if oraritiaal lawyer, and I mrehitts'«_hejtd~Vwra> And so much 1 tot Perseverance \ 1 He remained some time in this position, I when-toasted by his employers and re- i ■peetedtoo; for beside* his special gift i v alaw eUrk, he w«s strict,in morals and < veligious without parade. " Insthote dais country attornies could i not iLj to the metropolis and back to dianeri' vThuy relied much on London i attornies, their agents. Lawyer'Chitty's < agent was Mr Bishop, a judge"« clerk; but - , ia those days a! judge's clerk had- an in* dnfficiient stipend, and was allowed to eke it out by private practice. Mr Bishop was agaot'ito several country attorneys. WetlfChittyibads heavf cage coming. on at theu sasisea, and asked Bishop to come down, for once in a! way, to help him Bishop did do, and in working the MM, was delighted with Chitty's ■Miwftint clerk. Before leaving he told' Chatty be sadly wanted a managing clerk he could rely on. Would be,, oblige him Ms&Vpaat with young man P Chitty made rather a wry fecej ;and', said that young ■urn was a pearl. " i don't knW what I ahbjbld.do without him; why, he is my mUtrego." However, he endedsby saying gfuerous|y that he would not stand in the ycnng man's way. Then the; had the clerk in, and put the question.*' ~; '■ ' \ ■, .■ , •' Sir," said lie. "it is the ambition of my> foaitjfc to go to London." Tweotyrfour hours after that our hum- -■ bl* hero "was installed in Mr Bishop's office, directing a large business in town ".ami country. - He filled that situation for ■air years, and got to be well known in the legal profession, A brother ofTnine, who for years was* one of a firm of solicitors in. Lincoln's. Inn Fields, remembers him well at this period; by meeting him sometimes in judge's ; chambers. My brother says he. could not help noticing 'him, for he bristled with intelligence, and knew a deal of law, though he looked only a boy. . The baft of the joke is that this clerk turned otat'to be four years older than that solicitor who took him for a boy. He is now amongst books as well as lawyers, and studied closely the principles of law' whilst the- practice was sharpening Uat. He was' much in the courts, and ,«Ve*y case then cited in argument or judgment he hunted out. in the books, and 'digestedit, together with its application • :"'itt praotice by the living judge, who had i 1 quoted, received, or evaded it. He wai a Baptist, and lodged with a * Baptist minister and his two daughters. He fell in lore with one of them, proposed to her, and was accepted. The couple were married without pomp, and after the ceremony the good minister took them aside and said : " I have only two bun- . dred pounds in the world. I have saved it, a little at a time, for my two daughters, Here is your share, my children." Then . he gave his daughter one hundred pounds, and.she handed it to the bridegroom on the spot. The good minister smiled epproval, and they sat down to what fine folk call breakfast, but they called it dinner; and it was. ■-. After dinner and the usual ceremonies, ' - the" bridegroom rose, and'surprised a little, He said; "I am sorry to leave you. but I have a particular business to attend toll will take me one hour." Of course there was a look or two ex changed, especially by every female there present; but the confidence in him was , too great to be disturbed, and this wa< his 'first eccentricity. He left them, went to Grey's Inn, put dowiihis namo.asa student for the bar*, paid away his wife's 4oinc7 in'the fees, and returned within the hour. Next day the married clerk was at the office as :'nrfuai; and"entered on a twofold life. He worked as a clerk till five; dined in the hfell of (fray's Inn as a sucking barrister, and "studied hard at night. This was followed by a still stronger example of duplicate existence, iahd one without a parallel in niy reading and experience; he ' became a writer, and produced a master piece,, which, as regarded the practice of our courts, became at once the ' manual of attornioo, counsel, and judges. The author, though his book was entitled ," Practice," showed . some qualities of • a jurist, and corrected, soberly but firmly, unscientific legislature and judicial blun* ders. So he was a student of Gray's Inn, sup* posed to be picking up, in that Inn a small smattering of law,: yet, to diversify his crude studies, instructing mature counsel, and correcting the judges themselves, at whose chamber he attended daily, cap - in hand, as an attorney^ clerk There's aaintouectual hotch-potch for you. All this did not qualify him to be a barrister; bit years and dinners did. After some weary years he took the oaths at Westminister, and, vacated by that act his place in Bishop's office, salary included, and was a pauper—for an afternoon But work that has been long and tediously prepared can be executed quickly, and adverse eircumstanees, when perseverance conquers them, turn round and become allies;' ' The ex clerk and young barrister had ploughed and sowed with such pain and labor that he reaped with comparative case.' Half the managing clerks in London knew him and believed in him. They had the ears of their employers, andjbrought him .pleadings to draw and.motions to make. His book,too,brought him clients ; and he was soon in full career as a junor counsel and special pleader. Senior counsel soon 1 found that they could rely, uponl his seal, accuracy, and learning. They began to request that he might, be retained with them in difficult esses, and he became first junior counsel at the bar ; and so much for Perseverance. "** ' Time rolled its ceaseless course; and a •Uk gown was at bis disposal. Now a , popular; junior cannot always afford to take silk, as they call it. Indeed, if he is learned but not eloquent, he- may ruin himself by the change. But the remark* able man whose career I am epitomising did not hesitate; still he pushed onward. And so one morning the liord Chancellor *at for an hour in the Queen's Bench, and Mr Robert Lush was appointed one of Her Majesty's counsel, learned in the law, and then, and there, bj the Chancellor's invitation, stepped out from among the juniors* and took his seat within the bar. So much for Perseverance. From this point the outline of his career is known toeveryone. Heiwasappointed in 1866 one of the judge! of the Queen's Bench, and after sitting in that Court some years, was promoted to be a Lord Justice of Appeal. A few day* 'ago be died, lamented and revered by the legal profession* which is very critical, and does not bestow its respect lighfly. I knew him only as Queen's counsel. I. had him against me once, but oftener for me, because my toother thought him even then the b«at lawyer >awl the most

•ciloos at the b*f» and always Ntalted him if he Could» Dofing the pariod I knew him personally Mr Lush had still a plump, unwrinkled cheek, and a singularly bright eye. His voice was full, mellow,, and penetrating; it filled the court without apparent effect, .and accorded <*ell< with his style of eloquence, which nras what Cicero calls the temperalum genu \ loquendi Heasoning carried to perfection, is one of the fine arts. An argument by Lush enchained the ear and charmed the on derstanding. He began at the beginning and each succeeding topic was articulated and disposed of, and succeeded by its right successor, in language so fit and ! order so lucid that he rooted and grew I conviction in the miod — tantus series i nexuraque pollent. I have heard him at Nisi Prius, but should think he could do nothing ill, yet would be greater at convincing judges than at persuading juries right or wrong ; for at this pastime he would have to escape from the force of his own understanding, wbereas I have known: counsel, blatant and admired, whom native and flippant fluency has secured against that difficulty. He waß affable to clients, and I had more than one conversation with him, very interesting to me; but to intrude these would be egotistic, and disturb the just proportions of this short notice. 1 hope some lawyer who knew him well as counsel and judge will give us his distinctive features, if it is only, to correct those vague and colorless notices of him that have appearod. This is due to the legal profession. But after all, his early career interests a much wider eirele. We ean,not all be judges, but we can all do great things by the perseverance which from an office boy made this man a clerk, a counsel, and a judge. Do but measure the difficulties he overcame in hi* business with the difficulty of rising in any art, profession, or honorable walk, and down with despondency's whine and the groans of self-deceiving laziness ! You. who have youth and health, never you quaQ.'" at. those twin jailers of the daring heart, low birth, and iron for-, tune."

See-what becomes,of those two bunbears when the stout champion SINGLEHEART and the* giant PERSEVERANCE take them by the throat. Why, the very year thipe chilling lines were first given to the public by JBulwer and Maoready. Robert Lush paid his wife's dowry away to Gray's Inn in fees, and never whined, nor doubted, nor looked right 1 nor left, but went straight en—and prevailed. i Genius and talent may' have' their j bounds, but to the powerlft single-hearted Perseverance there is no known limits, Non omnis mortuus esJ—the departed judge atill teaches from-- his tomb; his dicta will outlive him in our English courts; his gesta are for mankind. Such an instance of singleheartedness, perseverance, proportionate success in spite of odds is not for one narrow island, but the globe. An old man sends it to the young in both hemispheres with this comment: If difficulties lie in the way, never shirk them, but think of Bobert Lush and trample on them. If impossibilities encounter you-, up hearts-aa<T»t'em. One thing j more to" those, who irould copy Robert < Lush in . all essentials. Though impregnated from infancy with a i honorable ambition, he remembered his Creator in.the days of his youth ; nor did ho forget Him when the world poured its honors on him, and those insidious temp* tations of prosperity which .have hurt the soul far of(ener than " low birih and iron fortuned" ... Ha,,- flourished ia a sceptical age, yet h*> lived and died fearing God.