l the friends of
Enlightenment and Progress, shall have happened, there will be no
possibility of a Reform which will lessen the needless expense and
shorten the unjustifiable delay which our present system of legal
procedure occasions; a system which gives to the rich immeasurable
advantages over poor litigants; and amounts in many cases not only to a
perversion of justice but to a denial of it altogether.

Old Fogeyism only tinkers at reform, and is so nervous and incompetent
that in attempting to mend one hole he almost invariably makes two. The
Public, doubtless, will, before long, undertake the much needed reform
and abolish some of the unnecessary business of "judges' chambers," where
the ingenuity of the Pettifogging Pleader is so marvellously displayed.
How many righteous claims are smothered in their infancy at this stage of
their existence!

I have endeavoured to bring the evils of our system before the Public in
the story of Mr. Bumpkin. The solicitors, equally with their clients, as
a body, would welcome a change which would enable actions to be carried
to a legitimate conclusion instead of being stifled by the "Priggs" and
"Locusts" who will crawl into an honorable profession. It is impossible
to keep them out, but it is not impossible to prevent their using the
profession to the injury of their clients. All respectable solicitors
would be glad to see the powers of these unscrupulous gentlemen
curtailed.

The verses at the end of the story have been so often favourably received
at the Circuit Mess, that I thought an amplified version of them in prose
would not be unacceptable to the general reader, and might ultimately
awaken in the public mind a desire for the long-needed reform of our
legal procedure.

RICHARD HARRIS.

LAMB BUILDING, TEMPLE,
_July_, 1883.

ADVERTISEMENT.

On the 4th of December, 1882, Our Gracious Queen, on the occasion of the
opening of the Royal Courts of Justice, said:--

"I trust that the uniting together in one place of the various
branches of Judicature in this my Supreme Court, will conduce to the
_more efficient_ and _speedy_ administration of justice to my
subjects."

On April 20th, 1883, in the House of Commons, Mr. H. H. Fowler asked the
Attorney-General whether he was aware of the large number of causes
waiting for trial in the Chancery Division of the High Court, and in the