s.

But it was not the light which the case threw on the manners of counsel
that interested me. After all, these things are part of the game. They have
no more reality than the thumping blows which the Two Macs exchange in the
pantomime. I have no doubt that after their memorable encounter in the
Bardell _v_. Pickwick case, Serjeant Buzfuz and Serjeant Snubbin went out
arm-in-arm, and over their port in the Temple (where the wine is good and
astonishingly cheap) made excellent fun of the whole affair. The wise
juryman never takes any notice of the passion and tears, the heroics and
the indignation of counsel. He knows that they are assumed not to enlighten
but to darken his mind. I always recall in this connection the remark of a
famous lawyer who rose to great eminence by the exercise of his emotions.
He was standing by the graveside of a departed friend and observed that one
of the mourners, a fellow--lawyer, was shedding real tears. "What a waste
of raw material," he remarked in a whisper to his neighbour. "Those tears
would be worth a guinea a drop before a jury."

What interested me in the case was the statement that the legal costs had
been L150,000, and that Mr. Upjohn, K.C., alone had had a retainer of
L1000, and had been kept going with a "refresher" of L100 a day. I like
that word "refresher." It has a fine bibulous smack about it. Or perhaps it
is a reminiscence of "the ring." Buzfuz feels a bit pumped by the day's
round. He has perspired his L100, as it were, and is doubtful whether he
can come up to the scratch without a refresher. And so he is taken to his
corner by his client and dosed with another L100. Then all his ardour
returns. He sees the thing as clear as daylight--the radiant innocence of
the plaintiff, the black perfidy of the defendant. To-morrow evening the
vision will have faded again, but another L100 will make it as plain as
ever. Yes, it is a good word--"refresher"--a candid word, an honest word.
It puts the relation on a sound business footing. There is no sham
sentiment about it. Give me another refresher, says Buzfuz, and I'll shed
another pailful of tears for you, and blacken both the defendant's eyes for
him.

But as I read of these princely earnings I could not help thinking of what
an irrational world this is in the matter of rewards. Here are a couple of
lawyers hurling epithets and "cases" at each other at L100 a day. At the
end a verdict is given for this side or that, and outsid