at the mother, with the
child in her arms, had knocked at King's Bench Walk and had insisted
on being admitted. Having not the slightest knowledge or perception
of female nature, he had extricated himself with difficulty from the
scandal by which he was menaced, and was severely mulcted before the
girl was induced to leave London. About every three months she wrote
to him, and these letters were read with horror and burnt in
trembling haste; for Mr. Joseph Silk was now meditating for
matrimonial and legal purposes one of the daughters of one of the
solicitors he had met in Paper Buildings, and being an exceedingly
nervous, ignorant, and unsympathetic man in all that did not concern
his profession, was vastly disturbed at every echo of his
indiscretion.

Harding, in reply to a question as to what he thought of Silk, said--

"What do I think of Silk? Cotton back" ... and every one laughed,
feeling the intrinsic truth of the judgement.

Mr. George Cooper was Mr. Joseph Silk's friend. Cooper consulted Silk
on every point. Whenever he saw a light in Silk's chambers he
thrilled a little with anticipation of the pleasant hour before him,
and they sat together discussing the abilities of various eminent
judges and barristers. Silk told humorous anecdotes of the judges;
Cooper was exercised concerning their morality, and enlarged
anxiously on the responsibility of placing a man on the Bench without
having full knowledge of his private life. Silk listened, puffing at
his pipe, and to avoid committing himself to an opinion, asked Cooper
to have another glass of port. Before they parted allusion was made
to the law-books that Cooper was writing--Cooper was always bringing
out new editions of other people's books, and continually exposed the
bad law they wrote in his conversation. He had waited his turn like
another for "soups" at the Bailey, and like another had grown weary
of waiting; besides, the meditative cast of his mind enticed him
towards chamber practice and away from public pleading before judge
and jury. Silk sought "a big advertising case"; he desired the
excitement of court, and, though he never refused any work, he
dreaded the lonely hours necessary for the perfect drawing up of a
long indictment. Cooper was very much impressed with Silk's
abilities; he thought him too hard and mechanical, not sufficiently
interested in the science of morals; but these defects of character
were forgotten in his homage to his friend