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Aug. 1, 1885.]

'If I can put you in for a good thing, I shall have much pleasure in doing it. I know several people in California.'

Thanks, my dear sir; let us go into the smoke-room;' and Theodore seized the arm of the American, as if he had known him from childhood.

A CHAT ABOUT SOLICITORS.

you heard these gentlemen's conversation about poor old Britain, you'd be frightened! That country's going down hill, because we don't speculate and invent and drive along as the Americans do. After all, I believe it was a real good thing that poor old father did make a mess of it. We've been forced out of the old ruts, The conversation I had overheard disturbed my boy; and I'll bet you what you like, that me-why, I could not say. If Theodore was in five years we shall be millionaires, not in making a useful friend, he was already doing dollars, Charley-no; in pounds sterling. Oh, that for which we had left England. Fortune trust me, I am picking up a lot of notions, and was our object. The sooner that was attained, I'll make your fortune as well as my own. But the sooner joy would return to our desolated go to bed, old fellow; you are looking bad home. What harm could happen to Theodore again.' by associating with a man of wealth, influence, and extensive knowledge? Suppose the ingenuous boy told more of our private affairs than was desirable to a casual acquaintance, what harm could arise? Frank, confiding, enthusiastic as he was, those qualities could do us no injury if unduly indulged. At most, our poverty and our plans would be revealed to a stranger. He might despise us, as the rich often do the unfortunate; or he might prove to be a powerful friend. Thinking my English shyness and reserve must be the cause of my dislike to the intimacy springing up between my brother and the stranger, I strove to remonstrate with myself. But I could not banish the feeling of vague alarm that beset me each time that I passed the smoke-room, on my weary promenade round the deck. I was alone again; the night was cloudy, and drifting showers came on at inter

vals.

At eight o'clock I had so fatigued myself that I could walk no longer, and as I felt better than I had done since leaving the saloon, I determined to get into bed without delay. I therefore went into the smoke-room to tell Theodore I was going below. I found him in the centre of a group of lively people, telling a humorous story, his blue eyes blazing with excitement, his golden curls gleaming in the smoky air, as if radiant with a nimbus. A glass of steaming brandy was beside him, and he had the appearance of having drunk freely. Now, he was not intemperate, and never had I seen him under the influence of drink; his looks and demeanour therefore alarmed me. I called him aside.

Don't go to bed yet, Charley,' he pleaded. Come and enjoy yourself with us for half an hour, and then we will go together. You cannot imagine what a lot of nice fellows are with us; gentlemen of first-rate positions, and who have seen such wonderful things all over the world. Do stay, Charley.'

The smoke began to make me ill. I backed to the door, saying: I cannot stand this place, Theodore. Come to bed soon, and do not take any more drink. Are you forgetting your

self?'

'Don't be alarmed, old boy,' he returned with a saucy laugh; 'I am merely taking a glass of grog for the propitiation of Neptune. If you would only do likewise, you would feel jolly as I do. Upon my life, Charley, I never was so confoundedly comfortable before. I believe

I'm a born sailor; and if we don't make our pile in California, I'll take to the sea. My mind is made up, anyhow. I'll never fall back into our English humdrum. Why, my dear lad, if

BY ONE OF THEM.

VERY curious notions are sometimes entertained

of the junior branch of the legal profession by
that part of the public which has seldom or never
In the
been brought into contact with it.
first place, there is very considerable ignorance
as to what an English solicitor really is, or
in what respect he differs from an English
barrister. I have constantly met with persons,
otherwise well informed, who entertained a rooted
idea that the solicitor occupies a rank in the
profession subordinate to that of the barrister—
that he is a species of subaltern, and that if he
is 'good and clever,' he may some day be pro-
moted to be a barrister. I have found it also
to be generally supposed that he is, as a matter
of course, the possessor of considerable wealth,
acquired by means frequently the reverse of
reputable; and as a corollary to this proposition,
that he is a creature of diabolical and unscru-
pulous cunning and ingenuity, which attributes
are supplemented by the most powerful and
comprehensive of intellects, and an instantane-
ously ready and entirely infallible knowledge of
the law. True, he does not always impart this
knowledge without reserve to those who consult
him; but this is merely that he may not deter
them, by too free a demonstration of the pitfalls
and morasses which lie before them, from
attempting that undesirable feat of gymnastics
called 'running up a lawyer's bill.'

I am afraid that those of my readers who entertain such opinions as the foregoing will hardly be disposed to believe me when I assure them that the calling of a solicitor is quite separate and distinct from that of a barrister ; that his duties are of an entirely different character; that a sudden transition from the one status to the other is impossible to him; but that if he be desirous of being called to the bar, he must have himself struck off the roll of solicitors three years previously. Also, that a solicitor who has acquired a large fortune by the practice of his profession is rather a rarity than otherwise; that in his business, as in most others, such fortunes are seldom built up but by wearily slow degrees, with much patient and painful toil and rigid self-denial, and often by

the successive labours of several generations. There are, alas! many very poor and miserable solicitors, both deserving and the reverse; and the excellent charitable societies which have been founded for the relief of the former class and those dependent on them find plenty of employment for their funds. Lastly, the solicitor, taken on the average, is neither better nor worse, neither cleverer nor more stupid, than his neighbours; his one advantage being, that whereas other business men are for the most part experienced only in their own special grooves, and their knowledge of life confined to that class of society in which they move, his experience takes a far wider range; for he is daily brought into contact with all sorts and conditions of men, and is forced by the nature of his work to acquire some acquaintance with almost every trade, profession, and occupation under the sun. Even his legal knowledge, though sometimes wide, is generally superficial as regards theory and principles.

The next thing your solicitor does is to write a formal letter to Smith, setting forth the complaint, demanding immediate compensation, and threatening legal proceedings in default; which composition is technically called 'the letter before action,' and under the vague generalisation of a lawyer's letter,' is regarded with much dread and abhorrence by the world at large. Smith proving stubborn, the solicitor proceeds to fill up the Writ of Summons, which is merely a printed notice from 'Victoria, by the grace of God Queen, Defender of the Faith,' summoning the recalcitrant Smith within eight days to enter an appearance at your suit, failing which you may proceed to judgment and execution. This having been duly stamped at the proper office, a copy thereof is served upon Smith. We will assume that Smith by his solicitor causes an appearance to be entered in due season.

It is at this point that the barrister steps in. Your solicitor lays before 'counsel'—as the barrister is called *-a carefully prepared summary of the facts, and instructs him to prepare the Statement of Claim. This is simply a bar-history of the circumstances, compiled with due regard to various technicalities, followed by a claim for a sum of money by way of damages. Counsel having drawn it up from the facts before him, it is printed, and a copy is delivered to Smith's solicitor, who replies with a Statement of Defence, also prepared by counsel. By this time it is to be hoped that the parties have managed between them to define pretty clearly what it is they are fighting about; otherwise, the documents, may be continued indefinitely, until 'pleadings,' which is the name given to these the matters at issue are evident. When such a state of things has been happily arrived at, your solicitor delivers a short 'joinder of issue that is, in effect, an allegation that what you say is true, and that what Smith says is the reverse.

The difference between the solicitor and rister may be illustrated by comparing them to the two ends of a speaking-tube, the solicitor being the end spoken into, and the barrister that from which the voice issues. Into the one end the aggrieved client pours his wrongs; from the other his wrongs issue in the words of the barrister, to whom Justice, often bored, but ever patient inclines her ear. To speak without a parable, let me endeavour to make my meaning clear by a rough sketch of the course of an ordinary action at law.

We will suppose, then, reader, that you have suffered grievous wrong and injury at the hands of your malignant and evil-minded neighbour, Smith. It may be that by the negligent driving of Smith or his servants you have been overthrown, with loss of dignity and cuticle, in the public streets, and have thereby suffered wounds and internal injuries which incapacitate you from following your very lucrative calling, to your loss and damage. Or, that the savage and ferocious dog of Smith, not being under proper control, has come upon your lands, and there set upon and worried and done to death your magnificent prize Manx cat, valued (by yourself) at fifty guineas. Then it is that you, suffering under the weight of your grievance, seek the consoling presence of your solicitor, being firmly impressed with the conviction that Smith is altogether in your power, and that he has not a leg to stand upon. Your solicitor listens with irritating impassiveness to your tale of woe; and when he has heard you to the end, proceeds, by means of a few rapid and searching questions, to extract the real story from the confused and probably one-sided statement of facts which you have put before him; for, with the usual fatuity of human nature, you will have enlarged upon and exaggerated all such circumstances as you consider to be in your favour, while carefully suppressing everything which may tell against you.

Counsel is thereupon instructed to advise on evidence' that is, to say what witnesses, docuThe solicitor then sets to work to get this ments, &c. will be necessary to prove your case. evidence together; and here comes the most difficult and trying part of the whole business. Some witnesses are friendly and willing, and even anxious to do all they can to assist; they will attend with alacrity and punctuality at the solicitor's office, and will answer all his inquiries with the most unreserved fullness. They will not only tell him all they know, but also a and inventing as they go along in the most great deal that they do not know, exaggerating trying manner; not from any wish to deceive, but from sheer partisanship and anxiety that their friend shall not be beaten. They will keep back nothing except-unless sharply looked aftersome trifling point of the utmost importance to the case, but which, as it seems to them, kind of witnesses; for unless the evidence which 'doesn't matter.' These are the most dangerous they are really able to give be carefully sifted out of them and driven well home into their minds beforehand, they will, when called upon to undergo the ordeal of the oath, infallibly unsay three-fourths of what they have privately

*In Scotland, the counsel is called an advocate, not | a barrister.

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stated, and qualify the remainder, thus giving a fatal aspect of weakness and deception to the whole case.

Other witnesses, again, delighted with the temporary importance suddenly conferred upon them, will augment that importance by every means in their power. They will not go to the solicitor-not they. If he wants them, let him come to them. They do not know when he can see them; they are very busy; they can make no appointment-he must take his chance.' Consequently, much precious time has to be wasted in repeatedly calling upon them and hunting them from place to place; and when at length brought to bay, they exhibit a maddening amount of hauteur and indifference. They don't remember this; they have but a meagre recollection of that; they don't know that they can swear to the other-in fact, they would much rather not have anything to say in the matter, and will only consent to do so under pressure and as a great favour. Add to all this that they are fond of little lunches and are dreadfully thirsty. Then there are the absolutely hostile witnesses, who must be compelled to appear and give evidence by legal process, and who in court must have the truth dragged out of them, and in the telling of it will do all the harm to your case that they conveniently can.

The evidence having been collected, the cause is set down for trial, and the Brief is prepared for counsel. This is simply your story of the case, followed by the name of each witness, and a résumé of the evidence he is prepared to give. When the cause is heard in court, the opposing counsel, speaking by their briefs, proceed to argue, examine their own witnesses, and cross-examine those of the other side, until each has done all he possibly can for his client. The jury then find either that you are a much injured man, and Smith the cause of it; or that Smith is a most estimable person, and that you are quite mistaken in supposing yourself aggrieved. Orwhat is worst of all-perhaps they find themselves unable to come to any conclusion; in which case they are discharged without a verdict, and all the work has to be done over again-that is to say, provided you have the stomach for it, which will probably not be the case unless you are either very wealthy or very obstinate.

This rough outline of proceedings, far too complicated in their details to be set forth more fully, will sufficiently illustrate the difference between the functions of the solicitor and those of the barrister. It will be seen that the former deals directly with the public; the latter only through the agency of the solicitor; that, although the standing of the barrister is considered to be superior to that of the solicitor, it is upon the good-will of solicitors that every barrister must depend for success in his pro

fession.

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observed that the weather was fine, and inquired if the lawyer thought it would hold up; who replied that he considered there was every probability of its doing so. Some little time after, the client was astounded at receiving a bill as follows: Attending you on your consulting me as to the state of the weather-conferring and advising thereon-6s. 8d.' As a fact, the solicitor's fee is sometimes more, sometimes less than the above mystical amount; while in certain cases the law does not allow him to make any charge at all. The competition he has to face is tremendous, and the result of his insisting even on his full legal charges would simply be that he would lose three-fourths of his connection. Not only has he to compete with duly qualified members of his own profession, but he has also, in his efforts to acquire a practice, to run the gantlet of all sorts of unlicensed intruders. There is the accountant, the auctioneer, the general agent,' the 'private gentleman of fortune' who advances any sum at a day's notice, and who assures his victims that they will incur 'no legal expenses,' and a hundred others; each and all of whom are ready to transact, however imperfectly and unskilfully, business for which people formerly resorted to their solicitors. Many even dabble in matters which solicitors only are by law permitted to handle-some by boldly evading legal restrictions, others by keeping in their employ some unfortunate man of law who has suffered shipwreck in reputation or in pocket, and who, in consideration of a share, and a very small one, of the profits is content to lend such persons the shelter of his name.

Of these harpies, the public cannot sufficiently beware, being, as most of them are-for accountants and auctioneers of standing are seldom guilty of such practices-mere ephemeræ, here to-day and gone to-morrow; unlike solicitors, responsible to no court, restrained by no scruples, hampered by no professional etiquette, whose only rule of conduct is to get what they can, and whose sole possessions are a highly varnished but unstable set of second-hand office furniture. They are compelled to undergo no training, they pass no examination, and pay no expensive fees. It is competent to any man with enough readymoney to pay a quarter's rent in advance, to open an office and dub himself accountant' or what not; and without knowledge, education, ability, or indeed any business qualifications except a glossy exterior and a confident address, to apply himself to deceive, swindle, and impoverish whomsoever he may succeed in entrapping.

I have spoken strongly, perhaps, on the wrongs of my profession; but have I not some excuse? Is it not a little hard, after having undergone a training which has occupied from three to five years, and has cost in premium, fees, and maintenance during the time of apprenticeship about The popular notion is that every time the two thousand pounds, to find that irresponsible solicitor is interviewed by his client, every time intruders have come in over the wall, and are he puts pen to paper to indite a letter, indeed on all hands plucking and devouring the fruit whenever he exerts mind or body in the slightest which he who has entered by the gate has degree, he charges (and is paid) a fee, which is striven so hard to win? We do not ask for invariably put at six shillings and eightpence. sympathy or appreciation; we simply demand And in support of this idea there is a little justice. Place our rivals under the same restricanecdote, which relates how a solicitor was walk-tions which hamper us, and we will undertake ing down the street, when a client, meeting him, to hold our own against all comers.

and social surroundings; always to be candid, frank, and straightforward with him, when you may rest assured he will be equally so with you. Trust him implicitly, and he will give you no cause to regret your confidence.

VINE-GROWING IN THE SOUTH OF

FRANCE.

But it will readily be imagined from the foregoing remarks that the acquisition of a large fortune is not a mere ABC to the solicitor, even if he were exempt, which he by no means is, from the runs of ill-luck and reverses of fortune which beset the rest of mankind. Moreover, the great road to success which is open to his nonprofessional rivals and to every other class of business man is closed, and very properly so, to the solicitor. He must not advertise; this the THE disease, as it is not very correctly called, etiquette of his profession strictly forbids. He that has destroyed the vineyards in many departmust depend for the increase of his connection ments in France, has caused changes in the upon the slow and wearisome process of contagion he must wait while those whom he has cultivation of the vine that may be useful to succeeded in satisfying communicate to others record. The enemy was an insect that burrowed with whom they come in contact a belief in their and ate up all the fibrous roots, so that, when solicitor's talent. Like other folks, lawyers are they were gone, the vine died from want of liable to make little mistakes; and they are nourishment. It has been ascertained by experi aware of this, and are forbearing with one ence that the insect known as Phylloxera had another, none knowing when his day may come generally been at work some two years before for need of such forbearance. But let a solicitor the vines showed signs of failing. Then loss of advertise, and he at once becomes an Ishmaelite. Every man's hand is against him. He cannot power became apparent; the shoots became feeble make a slip but instant advantage is taken of it and short, and in one or two seasons the plant to the fullest possible extent; and he soon finds died. Various chemical remedies were tried; one, that he must either withdraw his advertisements of a sulphurous nature, being injected through and wait until his fault has been forgotten, or a tube down to the roots. It was efficacious abandon the practice of his profession. But we in killing the insect; but as it was dangerous are generally saved from this by a feeling of also to the plant, the practice has been dropped. what is due to our own dignity. Very liberal manuring in some cases staved off the evil day, probably stimulating the vines to throw out fresh rootlets, which prolonged life for a time. It was at last recognised as inevitable that the old vines were bound to go; and new plants under different conditions must take their place. Happily, America-the country that sent the disease to France-supplied the remedy in vines, many of them quite wild vines, that are now restoring the vineyards of France.

The honesty of the solicitor has always been more or less called in question; and this, curiously enough, appears to be quite compatible with the entire confidence which almost every man reposes in his lawyer. The common cause for these conflicting phenomena is not far to seek. They spring from the lamentable ignorance of the laws by which they are governed which is conspicuous in the majority of Britons. This ignorance compels them to place confidence, reluctantly but perforce, in the man whom they suppose to know the law, and at the same time disables them from perceiving whether he is imposing upon them or not. But let me assure them for their comfort, if they will take the word of one of the suspected tribe, that solicitors are better by far than they are painted. I could, if I had space, set out instances without number of kindness and self-sacrifice on the part of my brethren. You will be as safe in the hands of a solicitor of standing and repute as in those of any other person of similar position. He will not cheat you himself, neither will he allow others to do so. It would not pay such a man to be anything else than honest. Sooner or later his sin would find him out; and the consequences would be of considerably more importance to him than any ill-gotten gains he might have acquired. Or supposing him to have a good chance of escape, the risk would be far too serious. Sorry disclosures, no doubt, occasionally take place in public of the shortcomings of solicitors in point of honour and honesty; but do doctors never appear in the police-courts? are clergymen always immaculate? is the glorious profession of arms free from all stain on its brightness? And has any general distrust of soldiers, clergymen, or physicians arisen in consequence?

My advice, therefore, to the reader is, to select your solicitor with a due regard to his business

We will first give a short account of the old system of vine-cultivation in the south of France, so as to show in what respects the new practice differs and improves upon it.

The old plan of cultivation was-rows of olive-trees eight to ten yards apart between, and six or seven yards apart in the rows. About a yard on each side of the olive-trees, a row of vines, making as it were double rows of vines, with vacant spaces, six or eight yards wide, These spaces were between two double rows. and sown with corn or green crops every year, the only manure applied to the land was that given to these crops. Now, as olive-trees and vines send their roots very far in search of food, the only hope of keeping such a system going would have been excessive manuring. This was not generally done; and, moreover, the produce in olives and grapes was taken off the land without any return in the shape of refuse to speak of. The vine-shoots, too, are cut off in winter down to two eyes, and the cut portions, when dry, used for lighting fires. This drastic treatment impoverished the soil, and rendered the vines too feeble to resist the attacks of the Phylloxera. Most of them succumbed at once. One vineyard proprietor we knew had about two hundred and fifty thousand vines. His cellar, running the whole length of his house, fully

Chambers's Journal,

Aug. 1, 1885.]

VINE-GROWING IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.

twenty yards long, was filled with wine a few years ago. In two years, all was over, and corn had taken the place of vines.

The replanting of such an extent of land was too much to be undertaken; and except a small acreage planted with American vines for homeuse, vine-culture has been abandoned on his property. Many kinds of American vines were imported-some that produced grapes useful for wine, others simply wild vines, only useful as stocks for grafts of the old vines of France. Some of them were non-resistant to the insect; others were disliked for one reason or other; and the favourite now seems to be the Jacquez, which produces a fairly good grape itself, and is also a good stock for French grafts. As a wild vine useful only as stock, the Riparia is most liked. It is a vine of great vigour, throwing out shoots of five to ten yards long in a season. There are many different modes of planting: some proprietors graft the two sorts together as cuttings, and plant them out; others strike them in a nursery, and when rooted, plant them out. After trying all methods, our own experience favours the plan of planting the American Riparia rooted, and in a year or two after, grafting the French vine on to it. From grafts made in March, we have had shoots yards in length, which have borne large bunches of grapes the first year.

495

and are handy for gathering. Vines that have shoots simply running along the ground, and bearing bunches of grapes resting on the soil, are undesirable; they get dirty, and are liable to be destroyed by insects and vermin, as well as to be rotted by rain.

Then,

is

The grape-harvest begins towards the end of August, and goes on through September. There are grapes that ripen in July; but these are for eating rather than for wine. The process of ingathering is very simple. As the grapes are gathered, they are placed in baskets, slung on each side of a mule or pony, and taken off to what we may call the squeezing-house. Here we find something like a large bath, built of masonry, and well cemented. On the top, loose planks are laid, and on them the grapes are placed. Men without shoes or stockings dance upon the grapes, and the juice runs through the cracks between the planks into the receptacle below. from time to time, the skins and stalks are allowed to fall in by moving a plank. Nothing is then done for five days, during which period fermentation goes on. At this period, the wine is drawn off by a tap at the bottom of the cuve, and when the liquid is disposed of, the skins and stalks are taken out and put through a press, to get out all the colour of the grape. This last wine in the case of black grapes, The change in the mode of cultivation princi- much darker than the other, and is mixed with pally consists in doing away with the olive-trees it, so that the colour should be uniform. We and corn-crops before mentioned, and confining should remember that the colour comes from the plantation to vines alone. This is a great the skin; and, paradoxical as it may appear, improvement; and as with it manuring is recog-white wine can be made from black grapes, if nised, good results are already apparent. There is, however, we think, a tendency to plant the vines too close. Some are planted only a yard apart each way; while two yards between the rows seems to us little enough space. The expense of replanting has been very great. Of course, after the first year or two the larger proprietors formed their own nurseries, and struck the cuttings themselves. Our own practice was to buy the wild Riparia rooted, and the following winter to layer the long shoots on either side-if possible, forming new plantsat least a yard distant from the old one, and grafting as they became ready. All cuttings are carefully planted in the nursery, to be planted out the following year in the gaps where the layers had not fully completed a new row. So every year the vines increase, though, as an acre requires thousands under the new system of cultivation, the progress is comparatively slow as regards the extent of land.

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Under the old system, one thousand vines planted an acre; now, four to five thousand vines are required. The number seems large; but it must be remembered that they are cut back to one or two eyes, that the shoots run very near the ground, and that each plant does not produce more than one or two quarts of wine. The vines in the south of France are not often staked, as in the central departments. The reasons are probably twofold-the one owing to the occasional violent winds that blow; and the other due to wood suitable for stakes not being plentiful. Thus vines that branch a little upwards and form a kind of curve before the end touches the ground, are preferred. The grape bunches coming chiefly near the stem do not touch the ground,

the skins are kept out. The stalks contain a certain amount of tannin; and there is, without doubt, in good pure wine, over and above the alcohol, a certain amount of food. The natives of the country live chiefly on bread and wine; and although it is a question whether the amount spent on wine might not with greater advantage be spent on meat, the fact remains that they can work very well on the corn-and-wine, saladand-oil diet.

After this digression, we return to the wine, which is put into casks, generally of two hundred and twenty-five litres-equal to the twentysix dozen English bottles-and left for six weeks. The bungs being left out, fermentation continues, and skins and froth are constantly thrown off through the bunghole. Every two or three days the cask is filled up, and the process continues. When six weeks are completed, the bungs are knocked in, and all is finished.

We are speaking now of small properties. In large vineyards, the casks are of enormous size, built in the cellar. The cellar is not underground, as in England, but is on the north side of the house, on the ground-level. It often takes two stories of the house in height, and has a loft above it. The length is often twenty to thirty yards. The wine is racked in springthat is, moved from one cask to another-the object being to get rid of all sediment and deposit and to have a clear bright wine. Then it may be bottled or not as convenient. We are not speaking of choice wines, when we say that this wine may be drunk at six months old, though it is better to keep it eighteen months. Nothing should be done to the wine-neither clearing

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