f her character; and she succeeded in effecting that
object so far as the outlay of one farthing would enable her to do so,
for that was all the jury gave her, and it was exactly that amount too
much. Her character was worth more to her in Crook's time.

Speaking of a man running society on his fees--that is, endeavouring
to cope with the rich on the mere earnings of a barrister, however
large they may be--I have met with several instances which would have
preserved me from the same fate had I ever been cursed with such an
inclination. The number of successful men at the Bar who have been
ruined by worshipping the idol which is called "Society," and which is
perhaps a more disastrous deity to worship than any other, is legion.
This is one unhappy example, the only one I intend to give.

While I was living in Bond Street, and working very hard, I had little
time and no inclination to lounge about amongst the socially great; I
had, indeed, no money to spend on great people. The entrance-fee into
the portals of the smart society temple is heavy, especially for a
working-man; and so found the bright particular star who had long held
his place amidst the splendid social galaxy, and then disappeared into
a deeper obscurity than that from which he had emerged, to be seen no
more for ever.

He was a Queen's Counsel, a brilliant advocate in a certain line
of business, and a popular, agreeable, intellectual, and amusing
companion. He obtained a seat in Parliament, and a footing in Society
which made him one of its selected and principal lions. In every
Society paper, amongst its most fashionable intelligence, there was
he; and Society hardly seemed to be able to get along without him.

One Sunday afternoon I was reading in my little room when this
agreeable member of the _elite_ called upon me. My astonishment was
great, because at that time of my career not only did I not receive
visitors, but _such_ a visitor was beyond all expectation, and I
wondered, when his name was announced, what could have brought him, he
so great and I comparatively nothing. It is true I had known him for
some time, but I knew him so little that I thought of him as a most
estimable great man whose career was leading him to the highest
distinction in his profession.

Another extraordinary thing that struck me long after, but did not
at the time, was that the business he came upon made no particular
impression on my mind, any more than if it had been