WATCH Sexy Elisha Cuthbert In Action  CLICK HERE for Instant Access Elisha Cuthbert Photos |
Elisha Cuthbert Photos Books: Martin Eden The Pickwick Papers The Sea Wolf |
while the judge was
visibly affected, and several of the beholders tried to cough down
their emotion.
Very good notion that indeed, whispered Perker to Mr.
Pickwick. Capital fellows those Dodson and Fogg; excellent
ideas of effect, my dear Sir, excellent.
As Perker spoke, Mrs. Bardell began to recover by slow
degrees, while Mrs. Cluppins, after a careful survey of Master
Bardells buttons and the button-holes to which they severally
belonged, placed him on the floor of the court in front of his
mother--a commanding position in which he could not fail to
awaken the full commiseration and sympathy of both judge and
jury. This was not done without considerable opposition, and
many tears, on the part of the young gentleman himself, who had
certain inward misgivings that the placing him within the full
glare of the judges eye was only a formal prelude to his being
immediately ordered away for instant execution, or for transportation
beyond the seas, during the whole term of his natural
life, at the very least.
Bardell and Pickwick, cried the gentleman in black, calling
on the case, which stood first on the list.
I am for the plaintiff, my Lord, said Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz.
Who is with you, Brother Buzfuz? said the judge. Mr.
Skimpin bowed, to intimate that he was.
I appear for the defendant, my Lord, said Mr. Serjeant Snubbin.
Anybody with you, Brother Snubbin? inquired the court.
Mr. Phunky, my Lord, replied Serjeant Snubbin.
Serjeant Buzfuz and Mr. Skimpin for the plaintiff, said
the judge, writing down the names in his note-book, and reading
as he wrote; for the defendant, Serjeant Snubbin and Mr. Monkey.
Beg your Lordships pardon, Phunky.
Oh, very good, said the judge; I never had the pleasure of
hearing the gentlemans name before. Here Mr. Phunky bowed
and smiled, and the judge bowed and smiled too, and then Mr.
Phunky, blushing into the very whites of his eyes, tried to look as
if he didnt know that everybody was gazing at him, a thing
which no man ever succeeded in doing yet, or in all reasonable
probability, ever will.
Go on, said the judge.
The ushers again called silence, and Mr. Skimpin proceeded
to open the case; and the case appeared to have very little inside
it when he had opened it, for he kept such particulars as he
knew, completely to himself, and sat down, after a lapse of
three minutes, leaving the jury in precisely the same advanced
stage of wisdom as they were in before.
Serjeant Buzfuz then rose with all the majesty and dignity
which the grave nature of the proceedings demanded, and
having whispered to Dodson, and conferred briefly with Fogg,
pulled his gown over his shoulders, settled his wig, and addressed
the jury.
Serjeant Buzfuz began by saying, that never, in the whole
course of his professional experience--never, from the very first
moment of his applying himself to the study and practice of the
law--had he approached a case with feelings of such deep
emotion, or with such a heavy sense of the responsibility imposed
upon him--a responsibility, he would say, which he could never
have supported, were he not buoyed up and sustained by a conviction
so strong, that it amounted to positive certainty that the
cause of truth and justice, or, in other words, the cause of his
much-injured and most oppressed client, must prevail with the
high-minded and intelligent dozen of men whom he now saw in
that box before him.
Counsel usually begin in this way, because it puts the jury on
the very best terms with themselves, and makes them think what
sharp fellows they must be. A visible effect was produced
immediately, several jurymen beginning to take voluminous notes
with the utmost eagerness.
You have heard from my learned friend, gentlemen, continued
Serjeant Buzfuz, well knowing that, from the learned
friend alluded to, the gentlemen of the jury had heard just
nothing at all--you have heard from my learned friend, gentlemen,
that this is an action for a breach of promise of marriage,
in which the damages are laid at #1,500. But you have not heard
from my learned friend, inasmuch as it did not come within my
learned friends province to tell you, what are the facts and
circumstances of the case. Those facts and circumstances,
gentlemen, you shall hear detailed by me, and proved by
the unimpeachable female whom I will place in that box before you.
Here, Mr. Serjeant Buzfuz, with a tremendous emphasis on
the word box, smote his table with a mighty sound, and glanced
at Dodson and Fogg, who nodded admiration of The Pickwick Papers page 228 The Pickwick Papers page 230 |