at the com

Nor has the

tled station in life, and to the enjoyment of the domestic affections, too often finds him the same lonely and unrequited labourer as mencement of his painful career. mode of life which the lawyer is compelled to adopt, any lenitive to offer for his cares. Separated, in all probability, from the society of his family, he has no other will than his own to observe, no other pleasures than his own to pursue; a situation ill adapted to develope those social affections in which so much of the true happiness of life consists. He is far removed from the happy hearth of his youthful home, and from those domestic sympathies, which in former years were so dear to him. In his silent and solitary chamber no eye sparkles, no smile beams as he enters. In sickness he has no one to soothe him; in despondency no one to support him. In his joy and his sorrow no one has part. Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that the vivid feelings of his earlier and happier years should become blunted and deadened. Perhaps he still retains sufficient sensibility to observe, with bitter reflections, the gradual change of heart and character which is taking place within him. In vain he touches the springs of those delightful affections of which his bosom was formerly the seat. The beautiful machinery is broken, and his cold heart remains unmoved. To a person who has once

possessed strong feelings, this growing apathy of the affections is more painful than words can express.

The picture which the domestic life of a lawyer too often exhibits, has been painted by a powerful pencil.

"I had seen other great lawyers and judges, some of them crabbed old bachelors, others uneasily yoked to vulgar helpmates, having married in early life a woman, whom they had dragged up as they rose, but who were always pulling then down; had seen some of these learned men sink into mere epicures, and become dead to intellectual enjoyment,-others, with higher minds, and originally fiue talents, I had seen in premature old age, with understandings contracted and palsied by partial or overstrained exertion, worn out mind and body, and only late, very late in life, attaining wealth and honour, when they were incapable of enjoying them. This had struck me as a deplorable and discouraging spectacle,~ -a sad termination of a life of labour!" (Patronage, vol. ii. p. 283.)

The foregoing observations must be regarded as presenting the most unfavourable view of the legal character. The reverse of the picture may be studied in the lives of such men as Hale, and Somers, and Romilly.

POETICAL WILLS,

The following Poetical Wills are said to have been proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

The fifth day of May,

Being airy and gay,
And to hyp not inclined,
But of vigorous mind,
And my body in health,
I'll dispose of my wealth,
And all I'm to leave,
On this side the grave,
To some one or other,
And, I think to my brother
Because I foresaw,

That my brethren in law,
If I did not take care,

Would come in for a share,

Which I no wise intended,

"Till their manners are mended,

And of that, God knows, there's no sign.

I do therefore enjoin,

And do strictly command,

Of which witness my hand,

That nought I have got,
Be brought into hotch-pot;
But I give and devise,
As much as in me lies,

To the son of

my mother,

My own dear brother,

To have and to hold,

All my silver and gold,

As the affectionate pledges,

Of his brother,

JOHN HEDGES.

What I'm going to bequeath,

When this frail part submits to death,

But still I hope the spark divine

With its congenial stars shall shine,

My good Executors, fulfill,

And pray ye fairly, my Last Will,

With first and second Codicil.

And first I give to dear Lord Hinton,

At Twyford School now, not at Winton,
One hundred guineas, and a ring,
Or some such memorandumn thing:
And truly much I should have blundered,
Had I not given another hundred
To dear Earl Paulett's second son,

Who dearly loves a little fun :

Unto my nephew, Stephen Langdon,

Of whom none says he e'er has wrong done, The Civil Law he loves to lash,

I give one hundred pounds in cash : One hundred pounds to my niece Tudor, (With leering eyes one Clarke did view her,)

And to her children just amongst 'em,
A hundred more; and not to wrong 'em,
In equal shares I freely give it,

Not doubting but they will receive it.
To Betty Mudford and Mary Lee,
If they with Mrs. Mudford be,

did dwell

Because they round the year
In Davies' Street, and served full well ;-
The first ten pounds, the other twenty;
And, girls, I hope that will content ye.
In seventeen hundred and sixty-nine,
This with my hand I write and sign,
The sixteenth day of fair October,
In merry mood, but sound and sober,
Past my three score and fifteenth year,
With spirits gay, and conscience clear;
Joyous and frolick some, though old,
And like this day serene, tho' cold;
To foes well wishing, and to friends most kind;
In perfect charity with all mankind.

For what remains I must desire,
To use the words of Matthew Prior;
Let this, my will, be well obeyed,
And farewell all, I'm not afraid;
For what avails a struggling sigh,
When soon or later all must die?

M. DARLEY,