Bardell v. Pickwick Read online

  THE TRIAL.

  At last the momentous morning came round. It was the fourteenth ofFebruary, Valentine's Day, 1828--one not of good omen for the Plaintiff.{26} The Defendant's party was rather gloomy at breakfast, when Perker,by wave of encouraging his client, uttered some _dicta_ as to the chancesof the Jury having had a good breakfast "Discontented or hungry jurymen,my dear Sir, always find for the Plaintiff." "Bless my heart," said Mr.Pickwick, looking very blank, "What do they do that for!"

  The party then got into hackney coaches and was driven to the Guildhall,where the case was to be tried at ten o'clock precisely.

  [Picture: Exterior of the Guildhall Court.--Now City Museum]

  [Picture: Interior of the Guildhall, Court, circa 1830. (From an original drawing by T. Allen.)]

  How dramatic Boz has made the "calling of the Jury," which might bethought an uninteresting and prosaic operation enough. It was a specialjury, which entailed one guinea per head extra expense on Mr. Pickwick.He had, of course, asked for it: but Dodson and Fogg would have been wellcontent with and perhaps even have preferred a common jury. Now-a-days,special jurors, though summoned largely, have to be almost coerced intoattending. A fine of ten pounds is imposed, but this is almostinvariably remitted on affidavit. The common jurors, moreover, do notshow the reluctance to "serve" of Groffin, the chemist. A guinea is notto be despised. There are, as it were, professional common jurors whohang about the Courts in the hope of being thus called as "understudies."On this occasion what was called a _Tales_ was prayed for, and two commonjurors were pressed into the service: and "a greengrocer and a chemistwere caught directly."

  It is impossible to say too much of the completeness with which the legalscene is put forward. Everything is dealt with. We have perfectsketches of the judge, the ushers, the jury, the counsel on the case, thewitnesses, the barristers, the attorneys; we have the speeches, themethods of examination and cross-examination.

  There is nothing better or more life-like than the sketch of the court inthe chill morning, and before the actors came on the scene--theinimitable description of the idle barristers hanging about "the Bar ofEngland," which is accurate to this hour.

  Few could describe effectively the peculiar appearance of a crowd ofbarristers assembled in a Court of Law. They are a type apart, and theirodd headgear accentuates all the peculiarities of their faces. No onehas, however, succeeded so well as Boz in touching off theirpeculiarities. This sort of histrionic guise and bearing is assumed witha view to impose on his friends and the public, to suggest an idea thatthey have much or at least something to do.

  'And that,' said Mr. Pickwick, pointing to a couple of enclosed seats on his right, 'that's where the jurymen sit, is it not?'

  'The identical place, my dear Sir,' replied Perker, tapping the lid of his snuff-box.

  Mr. Pickwick stood up in a state of great agitation and took a glance at the court. There were already a pretty large sprinkling of spectators in the gallery, and a numerous muster of gentlemen in wigs in the barristers' seats, who presented, as a body, all that pleasing and extensive variety of nose and whisker for which the bar of England is so justly celebrated. Such of the gentlemen as had got a brief to carry, carried it in as conspicuous a manner as possible, and occasionally scratched their noses therewith, to impress the fact more strongly on the observation of the spectators.

  One of the happiest descriptions is surely that of the binding of lawbooks. A law library is the most repulsive and uninteresting thing inthe world. The colour of the leather is unhealthy and disagreeable, andthe necessary shading is secured at the expense of grace. Bozcharacterises it as 'that under-done pie crust.'

  Other gentlemen, who had no briefs to show, carried under their arms goodly octavos, with a red label behind, and that under-done-pie-crust-coloured cover, which is technically known as "law calf." Others, who had neither briefs nor books, thrust their hands into their pockets, and looked as wise as they conveniently could; while others, again, moved here and there with great restlessness and earnestness of manner, content to awaken thereby the admiration and astonishment of the uninitiated stranger. The whole, to the great wonderment of Mr. Pickwick, were divided into little groups, who were chatting and discussing the news of the day in the most unfeeling manner possible--just as if no trial at all were coming on.

  A bow from Mr. Phunky, as he entered, and took his seat behind the row appropriated to the King's Counsel, attracted Mr. Pickwick's attention; and he had scarcely returned it, when Mr. Serjeant Snubbin appeared, followed by Mr. Mallard, who half hid the Serjeant behind a large crimson bag, which he placed on his table, and after shaking hands with Perker, withdrew. Then there entered two or three more Serjeants, and among them, one with a fat body and a red face, who nodded in a friendly manner to Mr. Serjeant Snubbin, and said it was a fine morning.

  'Who's that red-faced man, who said it was a fine morning and nodded to our counsel?' whispered Mr. Pickwick.

  'Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz,' replied Perker. 'He's opposed to us; he leads on the other side. That gentleman behind him is Mr. Skimpin, his junior.'

  Mr. Pickwick was just on the point of inquiring, with great abhorrence of the man's cold-blooded villainy, how Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz, who was counsel for the opposite party, dared to presume to tell Mr. Serjeant Snubbin, who was counsel for him, that it was a fine morning,--when he was interrupted by a general rising of the barristers, and a loud cry of 'Silence!' from the officers of the court. Looking round, he found that this was caused by the entrance of the Judge.

  On reaching the Court, Perker said, "put Mr. Pickwick's friends in thestudents' box. Mr. Pickwick had better sit by me." This usefulprovision for the instruction of legal probationers has fallen intodesuetude--no place is reserved for the students now-a-days. LordCampbell describes the custom and recalls an incident that occurred whenhe was sitting in the students' box, close to the Bench.

  There were some matters of procedure which have since been changed--suchas Mr. Skimpin "calling for" Winkle, and the latter answering. This isnow done by an Officer of the Court. Skimpin also asks Winkle his name,as a first question, though he had been sworn and had given it. And the_mal-entendu_ as to "Daniel Nathaniel" could not then have occurred, asthe Officer would have obtained the name correctly. Another unusualthing was that Buzfuz, after his long and rather exhausting speech,should have examined the first witness. Now-a-days the junior would dothis. We may note that at this time it was always "my Lord," and "yourLordship," with the full natural sound--we had not yet got to the clipped"M'lud,'" and "your Ludship." Perhaps this form _was_ actually used bythe Counsel but was not noticed by Boz, or seemed to him the right thing.The King's Counsel were behind and could stoop down to consult theirsolicitors.

  This minute observation and particularity of Boz is further shown in hisnoting the very places where the Attorneys sat, and which he describes.They had the seats next the table:

  "You are quite right," said Buzfuz later on, answering the whisper ofDodson and Fogg, after Sam's awkward revelation. How often have we seenthese hasty communications, which are not without their dramatic effect.