The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)

by Charles James Lever

  CHAPTER XIV. THE END OF A BAR MESS

  There are few things more puzzling to the uninitiated than the totalseparation lawyers are able to exercise between their private sentimentsand the emotions they display in the wear and tear of their profession.So widely apart are these two characters, that it is actually difficultto understand how they ever can unite in one man. But so it is. He canpass his morning in the most virulent assaults upon his learned brother,ridiculing his law, laughing at his logic, arraigning his motives,--nay,sometimes ascribing to him some actually base and wicked. Altercations,heightened by all that passion stimulated by wit can produce, ensue.Nothing that can taunt, provoke, or irritate, is omitted. Personalitieseven are introduced to swell the acrimony of the contest; and yet,when the jury have given in their verdict and the court breaks up, thegladiators, who seemed only thirsting for each other's blood, are seenlaughingly going homeward arm-in-arm, mayhap discoursing over the verycause which, but an hour back, seemed to have stamped them enemies forthe rest of life.

  Doubtless there is a great deal to be pleased at in all this, and, weought to rejoice in the admirable temper by which men can discriminatebetween the faithful performance of a duty and the natural course oftheir affections. Still, small-minded folk--of which wide categorywe own ourselves to be a part--may have their misgivings that theexcellence of this system is not without its alloy, and that even theleast ingenious of men will ultimately discover how much principle issapped, and how much truthfulness of character is sacrificed in thiscontinual struggle between fiction and reality.

  The Bar is the nursery of the Senate, and it would not be a veryfanciful speculation were we to ascribe the laxity of purpose, thedeficient earnestness, and the insincerity of principle we often deplorein our public men, to this same legal training.

  The old lawyer, however, finds no difficulty in the double character.With his wig and gown he puts on his sarcasm, his insolence, and hisincredulity. His brief bag opens to him a Pandora's box of noxiousinfluences; and as he passes the precincts of the court, he leavesbehind him all the amenities of life and all the charities of hisnature. The young barrister does not find the transmutation so easy. Hegives himself unreservedly to his client, and does not measure his ardorby the instructions in his brief. Let us ask pardon of our reader forwhat may seem _a mal a propos_ digression; but we have been led to theseremarks by the interests of our story.

  It was in the large dining-room of the "Martin Arms" at Oughterard, thata party of lawyers spent the evening, some of whose events, elsewhere,our last chapter has recorded. It was the Bar mess of the WesternCircuit, and the chair was filled by no less a person than "FatherRepton." This able "leader" had determined not to visit the West ofIreland so long as his friend Martin remained abroad; but a very urgententreaty from Scanlan, and a pressing request for his presence, hadinduced him to waive that resolve, and come down special to Oughterardfor the Magennis case.

  A simple case of ejectment could scarcely have called for that imposingarray of learned counsel who had repaired to this unfrequented spot;so small a skirmish could never have called for the horse, foot, anddragoons of law,--the wily conveyancer, the clap-trap orator, thebrowbeater of witnesses, and the light sharpshooter at technicalities;and yet there they were all met, and--with all reverence be itspoken--very jolly companions they were.

  An admirable rule precluded the introduction of, or even an allusionto, professional subjects, save when the burden of a joke, whosesuccess might excuse the transgression; and thus these crafty, keenintelligences argued, disputed, jested, and disported together, in avein which less practised talkers would find it hard to rival. To thepractice of these social amenities is doubtless ascribable the absenceof any rancor from the rough contests and collisions of public life, andthus men of every shade of politics and party, differing even in classand condition, formed admirable social elements, and cohered together toperfection.

  As the evening wore on, the company insensibly thinned off. Some of thehard-workers retired early; a few, whose affectation it was to pretendengagements, followed. The "juniors" repaired in different groups to thechambers of their friends, where loo and brandy-and-water awaited them;and at last Repton was left, with only two others, sole occupants ofthat spacious apartment. His companions were, like himself, soldiers ofthe "Vieille Garde" veterans who remembered Curran and Lawrence Parsons,John Toler and Saurin, and a host of others, who only needed that thesphere should have been greater to be themselves among the great of thenation.

  Rawlins was Repton's schoolfellow, and had been his rival at the Barfor nigh fifty years. Niel, a few years younger than either, was thegreatest orator of his time. Both had been opposed to Repton in thepresent suit, and had held heavy retainers for their services.

  "Well, Repton," said Rawlins, as soon as they were left thus tothemselves, "are you pondering over it still? I see that you can't getit out of your head."

  "It is quite true, I cannot," said Repton. "To summon us all downhere,--to bring us some fifty miles away from our accustomed beat, for atrumpery affair like this, is totally beyond me. Had it been an electiontime, I should probably have understood it."

  "How so?" cried Niel, in the shrill piercing voice peculiar to him,and which imparted to him, even in society, an air of querulousirritability.

  "On the principle that Bob Mahon always puts a thoroughbred horse in hisgig when he drives over to a country race. He's always ready for a matchwith what he jocularly calls 'the old screw I 'm driving this minute;'so, Niel, I thought that the retainer for the ejectment might haveturned out to be a special fee for the election."

  "And he 'd have given them a speech, and a rare good one, too, I promiseyou," said Rawlins; "and even if he had not time to speak it, the countypaper would have had it all printed and corrected from his own hand,with all the appropriate interruption of 'vociferous cheering,' and theplaces where the orator was obliged to pause, from the wild tumult ofacclamation that surrounded him."

  "Which all resolves itself into this," screamed Niel,--"that some men'safter-grass is better than other men's meadows."

  "Mine has fallen to the scythe many a day ago," said Rawlins,plaintively; "but I remember glorious times and glorious fellows. Itwas, indeed, worth something to say, '_Vixissi cum illis_.'"

  "There 's another still better, Rawlins," cried Repton, joyously, "whichis to have survived them!"

  "Very true," cried Niel. "I 'd always plead a demurrer to any notice toquit; for, take it all in all, this life has many enjoyments."

  "Such as Attorney-Generalships, Masters of the Rolls, and such like,"said Repton.

  "By the way," said Rawlins, "who put that squib in the papers about yourhaving refused the rolls,--eh, Niel?"

  "Who but Niel himself?" chimed in Repton. "It was filing a bill ofdiscovery. He wanted to know the intentions of the Government."

  "I could have had but little doubt of them," broke in Niel. "It was myadvice, man, cancelled your appointment as Crown Counsel, Repton. I toldMassingbred, 'If you do keep a watch-dog, let it be, at least, one who'll bite some one beside the family.'"

  "He has muzzled you there, Repton," said Rawlins, laughing. "Eh, thatwas a bitter draught!"

  "So it was," said Repton. "It was Curran wine run to the lees! andvery unlike the racy flavor of the true liquor. And to speak in allseriousness, what has come over us all to be thus degenerate and fallen?It is not alone that we have not the equals of the first-rate men, butwe really have nothing to compare with O'Grady, and Parsons, and a scoreof others."

  "I 'll tell you why," cried Niel,--"the commodity is n't marketable. Thestupid men, who will always be the majority everywhere, have got up thecry, that to be agreeable is to be vulgar. We know how large cravatscame into fashion; tiresome people came in with high neckcloths."

  "I wish they 'd go out with hempen ones, then," muttered Repton.

  "I 'd not refuse them the benefit of the clergy," said Niel, with amalicious twinkle of the eye, that showed how gladly, when oc
casionoffered, he flung a pebble at the Church.

  "They were very brilliant,--they were very splendid, I own," saidRawlins; "but I have certain misgivings that they gave themselves toomuch to society."

  "Expended too much of their powder in fireworks," cried Niel,sharply,--"so they did; but their rockets showed how high they couldrise to."

  "Ay, Niel, and we only burn our fingers with ours," said Repton,sarcastically.

  "Depend upon it," resumed Rawlins, "as the world grows more practical,you will have less of great convivial display. Agreeability will ceaseto be the prerogative of first-rate men, but be left to the smart peopleof society, who earn their soup by their sayings."

  "He's right," cried Niel, in his shrillest tone. "The age of alchemistsis gone; the sleight-of-hand man and the juggler have succeeded him."

  "And were they not alchemists?" exclaimed old Repton, enthusiastically."Did they not transmute the veriest dross of the earth, and pourit forth from the crucible of their minds a stream of liquidgold?--glorious fellows, who, in the rich abundance of their minds,brought the learning of their early days to illustrate the wisdom oftheir age, and gave the fresh-heartedness of the schoolboy to the ripeintelligence of manhood."

  "And yet how little have they bequeathed to us!" said Niel.

  "Would it were even less," broke in Repton. "We read the witticismof brilliant conversera in some diary or journal, often ill recorded,imperfectly given, always unaccompanied by the accessories of the scenewherein they occurred. We have not the crash, the tumult, the headlongflow of social intercourse, where the impromptu fell like a thunderbolt,and the bon mots rattled like a fire of musketry. To attempt to conveyan impression of these great talkers by a memoir, is like to picture abattle by reading out a list of the killed and wounded."

  "Repton is right!" exclaimed Niel. "The recorded bon mot is the words ofa song without the music."

  "And often where it was the melody that inspired the verses," addedRepton, always glad to follow up an illustration.

  "After all," said Rawlins, "the fashion of the day is changed in otherrespects as well as in conversational excellence. Nothing is like whatwe remember it!--literature, dress, social habits, oratory. There, forinstance, was that young fellow to-day; his speech to the jury,--a verygood and sensible one, no doubt,--but how unlike what it would have beensome five-and-thirty or forty years ago."

  "It was first-rate," said Repton, with enthusiasm. "I say it frankly,and 'fas est ab hoste,' for he tripped me up in a point of law, andI have, therefore, a right to applaud him. To tell you the truth," headded slyly, "I knew I was making a revoke, but I thought none of theplayers were shrewd enough to detect me."

  "Niel and I are doubtless much complimented by the remark," saidRawlins.

  "Pooh, pooh!" cried Repton, "what did great guns like you and Niel carefor such 'small deer.' You were only brought down here as a great _corpsde reserve_. It was young Nelligan who fought the battle, and admirablyhe did it. While I was listening to him to-day, I could not help sayingto myself, 'It's well for us that there were no fellows of this stampin our day.' Ay, Rawlins, you know it well. We were speech-makers; thesefellows are lawyers."

  "Why didn't he dine with us to-day?" asked Niel, sharply.

  "Heaven knows. I believe his father lives in the town here; perhaps,too, he had no fancy for a dress-parade before such drill-sergeants asyou and Rawlins there."

  "You are acquainted with him, I think?" asked Rawlins.

  "Yes, slightly; we met strangely enough, at Cro' Martin last year. Hewas then on a visit there, a quiet, timid youth, who actually seemed tofeel as though his college successes were embarrassing recollections ina society who knew nothing of deans or proctors. There was another youngfellow also there at the time,--young Massingbred,--with about a tenthof this man's knowledge, and a fiftieth of his capacity, who took thelead of him on every subject, and by the bare force of an admirablemanner and a most unabashed impudence, threw poor Nelligan completelyinto the background. It was the same kind of thing I 've often seen Nielthere perform at the Four Courts, where he has actually picked up hislaw from a worsted opponent, as a highwayman arms himself with thepistols of the man he has robbed."

  "I never pillaged _you_, Repton," said Niel, with a sarcastic smile."_You_ had always the privilege the poet ascribes to him who laughs'before a robber.'"

  "Vacuus sed non Inanis," replied Repton, laughing good-humoredly.

  "But tell us more of this man, Nelligan," said Rawlins. "I 'm curious tohear about him."

  "And so you are sure to do some of these days, Rawlins. That fellow isthe man to attain high eminence."

  "His religion will stop him!" cried Niel, sharply; for, being himselfa Romanist, he was not sorry to have an opportunity of alluding to thedisqualifying element.

  "Say, rather, it will promote him," chimed in Repton. "Take my word forit, Niel, there is a spirit of mawkish reparation abroad which affectsto feel that all your coreligionists have a long arrear due to them, andthat all the places and emoluments so long withheld from their ancestorsshould be showered down upon the present generation;--pretty much uponthe same principle that you 'd pension a man now because his grandfatherhad been hanged for rebellion!"

  "And very justly, too, if you discovered that what you once calledrebellion had been very good loyalty!" cried Niel.

  "We have not, however, made the discovery you speak of," said Rep ton;"we have only commuted a sentence, in the sincere hope that you arewiser than your forefathers. But to come back. You may trust me when Isay that a day is coming when you 'll not only bless yourself becauseyou're a Papist, but that you _are_ one! Ay, sir, it is in 'LiffeyStreet Chapel' we 'll seek for an attorney-general, and out of theChurch of the Conception, if that be the name of it, we 'll cull our lawadvisers of the Crown. For the next five-and-twenty years, at least,"said he, solemnly, "the fourth-rate Catholic will be preferred to thefirst-rate Protestant."

  "I only hope you may be better at Prophecy than you are in Logic," criedNiel, as he tossed off his glass; "and so, I 'm sure, does Nelligan!"

  "And Nelligan is exactly the man who will never need the preference,sir. His abilities will raise him, even if there were obstacles tobe surmounted. It is men of a different stamp that the systemwill favor,--fellows without industry for the toils of a laboriousprofession, or talents for the subtleties of a difficult career; men whocherish ambition and are yet devoid of capacity, and will plead the olddisabilities of their faith,--pretty much as a man might claim his rightto be thought a good dancer because his father had a club foot."

  "A most lame conclusion!" cried Niel. "Ah, Rawlins," added he, with muchcompassion, "our poor friend here is breaking terribly. Sad signs thereare of decay about him. Even his utterance begins to fail him."

  "No, no," said Repton, gayly. "I know what you allude to. It is anold imperfection of mine not to be able to enunciate the letter _r_correctly, and that was the reason today in court that I called you myingenious Bother; but I meant Brother, I assure you."

  They all laughed good-humoredly at the old man's sally; in good truth,so trained were they to these sort of combats, that they cared littlefor the wounds such warfare inflicted. And although the tilt was everunderstood as with "reversed lances," none ever cherished an evil memoryif an unlucky stroke smote too heavily.

  "I have asked young Nelligan to breakfast with me tomorrow," saidRepton; "will you both come and meet him?"

  "We 're off at cock-crow!" cried Kiel. "Tell him, however, from me thatI am delighted with his _debuts_ and that all the best wishes of myfriends and myself are with him."

  And so they parted.

  Repton, however, did not retire to bed at once; his mind was stillintent upon the subject which had engaged him during the day, and ashe walked to and fro in his room, he still dwelt upon it. Scanlan'sinstructions had led him to believe that the Martins were in this caseto have been "put upon their title;" and the formidable array of counselemployed by Magennis seemed to favor the impression. No
w it was truethat a trifling informality in the service of the writ had quashed theproceedings for the present; but the question remained, "Was the greatstruggle only reserved for a future day?"

  It was clear that a man embarrassed as was Magennis could never haveretained that strong bar of eminent lawyers. From what fund, then, camethese resources? Was there a combination at work? And if so, to whatend, and with what object?

  The crafty old lawyer pondered long and patiently over these things.His feelings might not inaptly be compared to those of a commandant ofa garrison, who sees his stronghold menaced by an enemy he had neversuspected. Confident as he is in the resources of his position, he yetcannot resist the impression that the very threat of attack has beenprompted by some weakness of which he is unaware.

  "To put us on our title," said he, "implies a great war. Let us try andfind out who and what are they who presume to declare it!"