Note 10 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
The lawyers of the seventeenth century were accustomed to make a show of their fees to the clients who called upon them. Hudibras's lawyer (Hud., Part iii. cant. 3) is described as sitting in state with his books and money before him:
"To this brave man the knight repairs For counsel in his law affairs, And found him mounted in his pew, With books and money placed for shew, Like nest-eggs, to make clients lay, And for his false, opinion pay: To whom the knight, with comely grace, Put off his hat to put his case, Which he as proudly entertain'd As the other courteously strain'd; And to assure him 'twas not that He looked for, bid him put on's hat."
Under Victoria, the needy junior is compelled, for the sake of appearances, to furnish his shelves with law books, and cover his table with counterfeit briefs. Under the Stuarts, he placed a bowl of spurious money amongst the sham papers that lay upon his table.