LII.

CHAP. profanely, cited to him a case from the Year Books, in which the Court laid down that "it is actionable to say of an attorney A.D. 1787. that he is a d-d fool, for this is saying that he is unfit for the profession whereby he lives; but aliter of a parson, par ce que on poet estre bon parson et dd fool." In serious tone the legal sage pronounced, that with Abbott's habits of application and clear-headedness his success was absolutely certain-saying to him, "You may not possess the garrulity called eloquence, which sometimes rapidly forces up an impudent pretender, but you are sure to get early into respectable business at the bar, and you may count on becoming in due time a puisne Judge."* Although Abbott had been contented with the prospect of obscurely continuing a college tutor till he succeeded to a country living, where he might tranquilly pass the remainder of his days, he was not without ambition; and when he looked forward to his sitting in his scarlet robes at the Maidstone assizes, while citizens of Canterbury might travel thither to gaze at him, he was willing to submit to the sacrifices, and to run the risks which, notwithstanding the sanguine assurances of his patron, he was aware must attend his new pursuit. He was now in his twenty-sixth year, and he had resided seven years in his college. His only certain dependence was his fellowship, the income of which was not considerable; but from the profits of his tutorship he had laid by a little store, which he hoped might not be exhausted before it was replenished by professional earnings.

In much perplexity as to the course of study he should adopt to fit himself for the bar, he thus addressed his faithful friend :

"C. C. C., June 13th, 1787.

I can never sufficiently thank you for the offer of your house in town. There are two modes in which I might

* Sir Egerton Brydges, after mentioning how Abbott's destiny depended on his being tutor to Buller's son, merely adds, “That learned and sagacious Judge immediately appreciated his solid and strong talents, and recommended him to embrace the profession of the law, rather than of the Church, for which he had hitherto designed himself." The language in which the advice was given rests on tradition.

CHAP.

LII.

enter the profession of the law-that which you propose, of residing chiefly in Oxford till I am called to the bar, which would be the line of study which I should choose; but then what am A.D. 1787. I to do when called to the bar with the enormous expense of going circuits, &c.?—and that of going at once to a specialpleader, and practising first below the bar. As far, however, as I am able to comprehend this line of practice, which seems to me to consist in a knowledge of forms and technical minutiæ, it would be very unpleasant to me, and the necessity of sitting six or eight hours a day to a writing-desk renders it totally impracticable, as from the peculiar formation of the vessels in my head, writing long never fails to produce a headache. Indeed any great exertion has always the same effect, so that on this account alone I think it will be wiser to choose a more quiet profession."

However, his misgivings were much quieted by a conference he had with his namesake Abbott, afterwards elected Speaker of the House of Commons, and created Lord Colchester. Thus, in a letter dated 13th October, 1787, he writes to Sir Egerton :

"I received a visit from Abbott this morning, and we held a long conversation together. He spent a year in a Pleader's office, and another in a Draughtsman's, and now practises in equity. Very particular reasons determined him to the Court. of Chancery; but he would advise me to adopt the common law, and chiefly on this account: the practice of the Court of Chancery being necessarily confined to certain branches of the law in exclusion of certain others, a man's general professional connections can contribute less to his assistance, and he has less opportunity of distinguishing himself. At the same time a person who begins and goes forward in equity seldom is able to make himself a perfect master of his profession, or qualify himself for many of its highest offices. With regard to my own particular case, Abbott thinks that, even if no connection determined me, it would be better to take one year to look into books and courts a little, than to enter at once into an office where I could not possibly understand the business without previous knowledge. This, you know, is exactly what I have always thought, and wished others to think. He thinks too,

LII.

A.D. 1787.

CHAP. that with proper application, I might get sufficient knowledge by working one year in an office to enable me to proceed afterwards by myself, and doubts not that by the help of two or three introductions to men in business, such as Foster, &c., I should make my way without expending so much as six hundred pounds. This, you see, is all very flattering. I wish it be not too flattering."

He is

entered of

Being thus reassured, on the 16th day of November, 1787, the Temple. he was admitted a student of the Middle Temple;* and he soon after hired a small set of chambers in Brick Court. By Judge Buller's advice, to gain the knowledge of writs and practice, for which in ancient times some years were spent in an Inn of Chancery, he submitted to the drudgery of attending several months in the office of Messrs. Sandys and Co., eminent attorneys in Craig's Court, where he not only learned from them the difference between a Latitat, a Capias, and a Quo Minus, but gained the good will of the members of the firm and their clerks,† and laid the groundwork of his reputation for industry and civility which finally made him Chief Justice.

His industry as a law student.

His next step was to become the pupil of George Wood, the great master of Special Pleading, who had initiated in this art the most eminent lawyers of that generation. Resolved to carry away a good pennyworth for the 100 guinea fee which he paid, he here worked night and day; he seemed intuitively to catch an accurate knowledge of all the most abstruse mysteries of the DOCTRINA PLACITANDI, and he was supposed more rapidly to

Die 16 Novembris 1787. "Ma'. Carolus Abbott Collegii Corporis Christi apud Oxonienses Scholaris, Filius natu secundus Johannis Abbott, nuper de Civitate Cantuariensi, defuncti, admissus est in Societatem Medij Templi Londini specialiter,

From the following entry in the books of C. C. C., it appears that at this time he had leave of absence from his College:

1787. Nov. 13th. Abbott, a Bachelor of the House, applied for leave of absence to keep the London Law Terms. The same was granted (conformably to Statute) by the President, one Dean, one Bursar, and two other Fellows Promotionis causá."

LII.

have qualified himself to practise them than any man before or СНАР. since. The great model of perfection in this line, in giving an account of his status pupillaris under the eminent special pleader, TOM TEWKESBURY,* sings—

"Three years I sat his smoky room in,

Pens, paper, ink, and pounce consumin'."

But at the end of one year Abbott was told that he could gain nothing more by quill-driving under an instructor.

He prac

tises as a

pleader

under the

bar.

With characteristic prudence he resolved to practise as a special pleader below the bar till he had established such a connexion among the attorneys as should render his call no longer A.d. 1788. hazardous, citing Mr. Law's splendid success from following the same course. He accordingly opened shop, hired a little urchin of a clerk at ten shillings a week, and let it be understood by Messrs. Sandys and all his friends that he was now ready to draw Declarations, Pleas, Replications, and Demurrers with the utmost despatch, and on the most reasonable terms. Clients came in greater numbers than he had hoped for, and no client that once entered his chambers ever forsook him. He soon was, and he continued to be, famous for "the ever open door, for quick attention when despatch was particularly requested, for neat pleadings, and for safe opinions.” †

Seven years did he thus go on, sitting all day, and a great part of every night, in his chambers,-verifying the old maxim inculcated on City apprentices, "Keep your shop and your shop will keep you." He was soon employed by Sir John Scott, the Attorney-General, in preparing indictments for high treason and criminal informations for libel in the numerous state prosecutions which were going on during "the reign of terror," and by his pupils and his business he was clear

* Hero of ANSTEY'S 'Pleader's Guide,' a poem which is, I am afraid, now antiquated, and which will soon become almost unintelligible from the changes in our legal procedure, but the whole of which I have heard Professor Porson, at the Cider Cellar in Maiden Lane, recite from memory to delighted listeners. He concluded by relating, that when buying a copy of it and complaining that the price was very high, the bookseller said, "Yes, Sir, but you know Law-books are always very dear."

Townsend's Twelve Judges, vol. i. 243.

LII.

A.D. 1796.

*

CHAP. ing an annual income of above 1000l. He had now reached the age of thirty-three, which, although it is considered in our profession as early youth, the rest of the world believe to smack of old age. He exclaimed, "Now or never must I take the leap into the turbid stream of forensic practice, in which so many sink, while a few-rari nantes in gurgite vasto — are carried successfully along to riches and honour."

He is called

to the bar.

His success

on the Ox

ford Circuit.

Accordingly he was called to the bar in Hilary Term, 1796, by the Society of the Inner Temple,t and a few weeks after he started on the Oxford Circuit. I myself joined that circuit about fourteen years later, when I formed an intimacy with him, which continued till his death. I then found him with a junior brief in every cause tried at every assize town; and I heard much of his rapid progress and steady success, with a good many surmises, among his less fortunate brethren, that it was not from merit alone that he had surpassed them. He had at once stepped into full business, and this they ascribed to the patronage of an old attorney called Benjamin Price, who had acted as clerk of assize for half a century, and was agent in

* I remember Mr. Topping giving great offence to the junior members of the bar, who expected to be considered young men till fifty-five, by observing, when counsel for the plaintiff in a crim. con. cause, that the defendant's conduct was the more inexcusable, "as the heyday in the blood was over with him, and he had reached the mature age of thirty-three." According to Lord Byron, a lady thinks she has married an aged husband, although he may be several years younger than that:

"Ladies even of the most uneasy virtue

Prefer a spouse whose age is under thirty."

The following is a copy from the books of that Society of his admission and of his call:

"INNER TEMPLE.

"Charles Abbott, second son of John Abbott, late of the City of Canterbury, deceased (who was admitted of the Society of the Middle Temple the sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord 1787, as by Certificate from the Middle Temple appears), admitted of this Society the eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord 1793.