Note 14 — Chapter XXIII · “WHATEVER OTHER FAULTS I MAY HAVE, THAT OF LETTING GO MY HOLD IS NOT ONE.”
Reading edition
Brougham was Cleary’s counsel. Cobbett very ably defended himself, and produced one of his best jokes on this occasion. Referring to the plaintiff’s diminished prospects at the bar, alleged to be in consequence of these events, he added, “It was held to be a crime, even by poachers, to destroy young birds; and how criminal, then, must he (the defendant) be, if he really had crushed a lawyer in the egg!”