THE
C O U R T
OF
C H A N C E R Y:
A Satirical Poem.
—————
BY
REGINALD JAMES BLEWITT,
LATE OF LINCOLNS INN.
—————
When justice halts, and right begins to fail;
E’en then the boldest start from public sneers,
Afraid of shame, unknown to other fears;
More darkly sin, by satire kept in awe,
And shrink from ridicule, if not from law. Byron.
============
LONDON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. KAY, 1, WELBECK STREET,
CAVENDISH SQUARE.
1827.
TO
MAJOR EDWARD BLEWITT,
OF LLANTARNAM ABBEY,
In the County of Monmouth,
THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED,
WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF FILIAL AFFECTION,
BY HIS SON,
THE AUTHOR.
{1}{v}{iv}{iii}
PREFACE.
============
The great delay and ruinous expenses of a Chancery suit have becomeproverbial. Shame to the country, that suffers such a stain upon itssystem of equitable jurisprudence! I offer no apology for taking up thetomahawk of censure against this dire national enemy. Would that I coulduse the weapon more dexterously! It must, however, be sufficientsatisfaction for me to have removed the scalp of concealment, withoutbeing too particular about the skill, with which it has been effected.
As a poet, I must throw myself upon the indulgence of the public. Forthe last ten years I have sacrificed every literary attainment to thestudy of the law; and am therefore in the situation of a miner, who,after years of cheerless labour underground, should be expected todisplay any great ingenuity in the pursuit of a more enlightenedoccupation.
The subject is dull, but not unfruitful. I have thrown into the work asmuch amusement as my poor abilities would furnish me with, but myprincipal objects have been truth and consistency.—I presume,therefore, to assert that I have always been honest in commendation, andnever severe without reason.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that, in my character of a viciousattorney, I do not mean to represent the profession at large. There arein town and country many upright practitioners, of whose friendship Ishould feel proud. A lawyer, however, may be often dishonest without thefear of detection, and indeed almost without the consciousness of doingwrong. In his practice the boundaries between good and evil are veryslight, and may be imperceptibly transgressed. There is little merit inone, whom the fear of punishment deters from the commission of crime;but not to practice knavery when it can be done with ease and infinityis at all events a negative virtue deserving of no slight consideration.
The idea of writing this poem first occurred to