On the right, Nicodemus* his leg was extending,

To the stove, Johnn]y W[righ]t+ his brown visage was bending; And a huge brainless Judget the fore bar was ascending,

When I marked thee, poor O[th]o, stand briefless alone.

2

Dark and green is that spot, by thy love still distinguished,
T'wixt the stove and the side-bar, where oft thou didst stray
Like the ghost of a lawyer, by hunger extinguish'd,
Who walks a sad warning to crowds at bright day.
Nor yet quite deserted, tho' poorly attended,

For see, his right hand Virgin Smith§ has extended,
And Hagart's|| strong breath thy retreat has defended,
And chas'd the vain wits and loud scoffers away.

* Edward M'Cormick, Esq. Sheriff-depute of Ayrshire,-known by the soubriquet of Nicodemus, which was given him by John Clerk. He was a tall man, upwards of six feet two.

† John Wright, Esq.-The curious reader will find two very characteristic etchings of this eccentric and very ugly person in Kay's Edinburgh Portraits. Wright is said to have been originally a shoemaker, but having contrived to educate himself, he became a lecturer on civil law, and a "law grinder." He afterwards passed advocate, but had little or no business;—latterly, he had a small pension allowed him by the Faculty. A gentleman now dead, who knew him well, in a note on this passage, has written,-" He had an extraordinary coarse countenance,-no utterance, and bad manner,—had latterly a pension from the Faculty, which he long resisted to take. He was an honest innocent man, and most confoundedly obstinate."

Lord Polkemmet.-The same gentleman who recorded his opinion of Wright, furnishes this notice as to Polkemmet:-He was "a man of great stature and "solemnity of manner. He spoke in a drawling way, with a strong Scotch "accent, all which left an impression against him. He was an upright honest 66 man, and upright judge, and considered a very good lawyer, though he re"quired time to consider. He retired on a pension."

§ A Member of Faculty, of great respectability and worth, who acquired the soubriquet of Virgin, from his extreme purity of morals, and entire want of practice.

John Hagart of Cairnmuir was admitted advocate 24th January 1784,—a coarse vulgar looking man, with a breath which savoured not of the spicy gales

He had tolerable practice for some years, but was not much respected: latterly, he embroiled himself with the Judges, and having been very severely reprimanded by Lord President Hope for the manner in which he had conducted himself as

3.

How keen didst thou gaze as the agents mov'd past thee;
How oft when the Macer bawl'd loud didst thou start.

counsel for Mrs. Belinda Colebrook or Taaffe, a lady who kept the Court in constant employment some years since, he brought an action of damages against his Lordship, which, after his death, was insisted in by his trustees, in consequence of special instructions to that effect in his settlements. Both the Court and House of Peers held the action untenable. The ultimate judg ment was pronounced by Lord Gifford, and His Royal Highness the late Duke of York was one of the Peers who sat out the whole discussion.

Mr. Hagart was by no means remarkable for suavity or politeness of manner. From his possessing a small estate in Perthshire, he was in use to attend the meetings of Justices and Freeholders, where he was fond of showing off his forensic talent. It so happened, that the county gentlemen had resolved to apply to the Lords of the Treasury upon some matter or other, and had accordingly prepared a petition, which was generally objected to, on the ground of its being much too long. It was thereupon remitted to a committee, which speedily curtailed it of its fair proportions. Every person was satisfied with the abridgement, excepting Mr. Hagart, who was never satisfied with any thing, and he contended, that shortened as it was, it would take ten minutes to read; "now," says the learned gentleman, "if it takes so much time in reading, the Lords of the Treasury will toss it aside, and pay no attention to it." Upon this, the late Sir Alexander Muir Mackenzie remarked, that he would himself read it to the gentlemen assembled, explicitly and distinctly, in five minutes. The worthy baronet, be it observed, had a protrusion of his lower lip, which made it more than twice the ordinary size; and it had something of the appearance of a pair of underlips. Hagart angrily replied, "I am ready to join issue with the learned gentleman, [Sir Alexander was an advocate,] as to the fact, and I wish, therefore, that any one present would take the trouble of reading the petition aloud, excepting always the learned gentleman himself, as, from his having double lips, he is able, no doubt, to read it twice as quickly as any one else." This piece of impertinence, which is given as characteristic of the man, may perhaps be attributable to party spleen, as Hagart was a radical whig, or liberal, and Sir Alexander, a keen tory or conservative.

Hagart was no scholar, although somewhat anxious to create an impression that he was one he was counsel in an action brought by the owner of a horse against a party who had had the use of it, and who had very seriously injured the animal. In a reclaiming petition to the Court for the owner, Hagart, after detailing everything very minutely,-explaining the multifarious ways in which a horse might be injured by the rider, and pointing out the treatment which ought to be adopted, thought it advisable to end with a flourish, and either having taken up the notion, that the following well-known line was quite in point, or perhaps having been persuaded by some wag that it was, he concluded as follows:Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum,

May it therefore please your Lordships to alter the interlocutor under review, &c.

Alas! thy thin wig not much longer will last thee,
And no fee will the hard hearted writer impart.
And oh! is it meet that a student of Leyden,*

Should hardly have whole coat or breeches to stride in,
While home-bred and blockheads their carriages ride in,
Who can't tell where Leyden is placed on the Chart ?

4

When Balmuto or Banny+ the bench has ascended,
The former to bellow, the latter to sleep,
And Hermand as fierce as a tyger offended,
Is muttering his curses, not loudly but deep :
Then are all the fee'd lawyers most anxiously waiting,
Some ready to prose, and some ready for prating;
While some for delay are boldly debating,
Lamenting a cause thro' their fingers should creep.

5

But meeter for thee far with Thomas M'Grugar,‡
Thy heart's dearest friend, in condolence to sigh,
And to some idle question, in words sweet as sugar,
To bandy soft answer and gentle reply.
Far fitter, I ween than for gowns idly hoping,
With the Corsican Fairy§ your way darkly groping,
To spend the dull hours in John Dowie's,|| ale toping,
Regal'd with salt herring and hot penny pyes.

*

Otho had been several years at Leyden studying civil law.

† Lords Balmuto and Bannatyne.-The former certainly used to "bellow" at times tremendously, but chiefly when some youthful advocate appeared before him. He seemed delighted to astonish, and usually succeeded. The latter now and then appeared to dose, but he was usually very attentive to what was said, and unlike Balmuto, always read his papers.

Thomas M'Grugar was a son of Mr. Thomas M'Grugar, merchant, Edinburgh, admitted advocate 28th February 1786.-He was a worthy man,—had some little business, and was remarkable for a soft manner of speaking. He published a supplemental volume to Kames and Woodhouselee's Dictionary of Decisions.

§ Geo. Sandy, Esq. whose bulky form presented a somewhat strong contrast to the tiny dwarf, who, under the appellation of the Corsican Fairy, visited all the principal towns in Great Britain.

Johny Dowie's Tavern was a well-known place of resort for thirsty persons

XXI.

PARODY

ON GRAY'S CELEBRATED ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHURCH-YARD,

Written by the late

From a copy privately printed at Edinburgh 1814, 12mo. Colin Maclaurin, Esquire, advocate, a son of Lord Dreghorn. The author was subject to fits of insanity, which latterly became so frequent and violent as to make it necessary to place him under restraint. One of his last public exhibitions was sufficiently alarming to the party concerned, although somewhat amusing to the spectators. Colin, about two o'clock in a fine September day, was sauntering along Princes Street, attired in a great coat, which served as a surtout. This garment was buttoned below, but the breast was open, and in the left side thereof was placed a goodly assortment of apples; in his right hand was a large carving knife, which, with a flourish ever and anon, he dashed into the left side of his great coat, and extracted therefrom an apple, which he devoured :—he had just reached the termination of Hanover Street, when Mr. of. — a stout athletic man, was turning the corner,-struck by the singular apparition before him, Mr. could not help smiling, when unfortunately Colin observed him, and enraged at what he supposed a deliberate insult, made a pass at him with the knife,-off set Mr.

and Colin in pursuit swearing vengeance,-the spectators made way for these extraordinary racers, and it was not until Mr. reached the eastern ex

tremity of Princes Street, that he bethought himself that a shop might afford a friendly shelter. He accordingly rushed into the first one that came in his way, and closing the door, effectually secured himself from the threatened assault of his eccentric assailant. Maclaurin was in his sane moments a very well-informed man. He died a few years ago.

at the commencement of the present century. This house of call, which was removed in consequence of the recent improvements, was the ordinary resort of a great proportion of the Members of the College of Justice at the period this Parody was written. The judges had long ceased to patronize the ale-house; but many members of the bar, and most of the agents, continued to carouse there, as their predecessors had done before them. Dowie himself, of whom there is a portrait in the Scots Magazine, amassed wealth, and died rich.

*

The bell now tolls, soon after dawn of day,
The lawyer herd wind slowly up the street,
The macer court-ward plods his weary way,
Anxious, in haste, each learned judge to meet.

And soon the bustling scene delights the sight,
In yonder gorgeous and stupendous hall,
While eager macers call, with all their might,
The busy lawyers from each judge's roll.

E're long, from yonder velvet-mantled chair,
The angry judge does to the bar complain,
Of counsel who, by ways and means unfair,
Molest his potent and judicial reign.

Beneath yon fretted roof that rafters shade,

Where lie huge deeds in many mouldering heads,
Each, in its narrow cell, far too long laid,
Many a dusty process often sleeps.*

The dreadful call of macer, like a horn,

The agent, tottering from some humble shed,
The lawyer's claron, like the cock's, at morn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

For them no more the agent's lamp shall burn,
Or busy clerk oft' ply his evening care,
No counsel run to hail their quick return,
Or long their client's envied fees to share.

Oft' did the harvest to their wishes yield,

And knotty points their stubborn souls oft' broke. How keenly did they, then, their clients shield!

How bow'd the laws beneath their sturdy stroke!

Let not derision mock their useful toils,
Forensic broils, and origin obscure,
Nor judges hear, with a disdainful smile,

The short and simple causes of the poor.

An action is said to be asleep if not called in Court for year and day.