Part 19 (1/2)

”'I hope,' said I, 'your marriage was a happy one.'

”'Yes,' said he with a sigh, '_but we don't get on well with the old folks_!'”

No writer was ever more solicitous of fame than Sam Warren. It was a proud moment whenever there was the remotest allusion to his authors.h.i.+p, and I always loved to compliment him on his books.

In the famous case of Lord St. Leonards's will, which had been lost, I supported the lost will, and proved its contents from the evidence of Miss Sugden and others.

Sam Warren had been in the habit of visiting Lord St. Leonards at Boyle Farm, Ditton. He gave evidence as to what Lord St. Leonards had told him respecting his intentions as to the disposal of his property.

After examining him, I said with a polite bow: ”Mr. Warren, I owe you an apology for bringing you into the Probate Court. I am sure no one will ever dream of disputing _your_ will, because you have left everybody '_Ten Thousand a Year_!'”

Whereupon Warren bowed most politely to me in acknowledgment of the compliment; then bowed to the _Judge_, and received his lords.h.i.+p's bow in return; then bowed to the _jury_, then to the _Bar_, and, lastly, to the _gallery_.

Writing of the Probate and Divorce Court reminds me of a curious application for the postponement of a trial made by George Brown, who was as good a humorist as he was a lawyer.

I have said that Judges in those days were more strict in refusing these applications than in ours, and Cresswell was no exception to the rule. He disliked them, and rarely yielded. But Brown was a man of a very persuasive manner, and it was always difficult to refuse him anything. I was sitting in Cresswell's court when George rose as soon as the Judge had taken his seat, and asked if a case might be postponed which would be in the next day's list.

”Have you an affidavit, Mr. Brown, as to the reason?”

”Yes, my lord; but I can hardly put the real ground of my application into the affidavit. I have communicated with the other side, and they are perfectly agreeable under the circ.u.mstances.”

”I cannot agree to postpone without some adequate cause being stated,”

said Cresswell.

”I am very sorry, my lord, but it will be very inconvenient to me to be here to-morrow.”

There was a laugh round the Bar, which Cresswell observing, asked what the real reason was.

Brown smiled and blushed; nothing would bring him to state plainly what the reason of his application was. At last, however, he stammered,--

”My lord, the fact is I am going to take the first step towards a divorce.”

The appeal touched the Judge; the reason was sufficient. Every step in a divorce was to be encouraged, especially the first. The application was granted, and Brown was married the next day.

CHAPTER XX.

THE BRIGHTON CARD-SHARPING CASE.

From the courts of justice to the prize-ring is an easy and sometimes pleasant transition, especially in books. I visited from time to time such well-known persons as ”Deaf Burke,” Nat Langham, ”Dutch Sam,” and Owen Swift, all remarkable men, with const.i.tutions of iron, and made like perfect models of humanity. Their names are unknown in these days, although in those of the long past gentlemen of the first position were proud of their acquaintance; and these men, although their profession was battering one another, were as little inclined to brutality as any. And when it is remembered that they played their game in accordance with strict rules and on the most scientific principles, it will be seen that cruelty formed no part of their character.

The true sportsmen of the period, amongst whom were the highest in the social and political world, took the same interest in contests in the ring as they did on the turf or in the cricket-field, and for the same reason. Whether Jem Mace would beat Tom Sayers had as much interest at fas.h.i.+onable dinner-tables as whether Lord Derby would dispose of Aberdeen or Palmerston. Lords and dukes backed their opinion in thousands, and the bargee and the ostler gave or took the odds according to the tips, in s.h.i.+llings. The gentleman of the long robe, therefore, was not to be supposed as altogether out of his element in sporting circles any more than the gentleman who had not a rag to cover him.

Nor was it uncommon to meet what was called the cream of society at the celebrated rendezvous of Ben Caunt, which was the Coach and Horses, St. Martin's Lane, or at the less pretentious resort of the Tipton Slasher; and what will our modern ladies think of their fair predecessors, who in those days witnessed the drawing of a badger or a dog-fight on a Sunday afternoon?

All mankind will attend exhibitions of skill and prowess, and although prize-fights are illegal, you never can suppress the spirit which engendered that form of compet.i.tion.

I spent sometimes, with many eminent spectators, a quiet hour or two at Tom Spring's in Holborn, and met many of the best men there in all ranks and professions, always excepting the Church. After one of these entertainments I was travelling with John Gully, once a formidable champion of the ring, and at that time a great bookmaker, as well as owner of racehorses--afterwards presented at Court to her most gracious Majesty the late Queen--and Member of Parliament. We were travelling on our way to Bath, and as we approached a tunnel not far from our destination, Gully pointed out a particular spot ”where,”