Flower. Why, my Lord Chief does not go the circuit this time, and my brother Puzzle being in the commiſſion, the cauſe will come on before him.
Trueman. Ay, that may do, indeed, if you can but throw duſt in the eyes of the defendant's council.
Flower. True.—Mr. Trueman, I think you are concerned for Lord Ogleby in this affair? [to Trueman.
Trueman. I am, Sir—I have the honour to be related to his Lordſhip, and hold ſome courts for him in Somerſetſhire,—go the Weſtern circuit—and attend the ſeſſions at Exeter, merely becauſe his Lordſhip's intereſt and property lie in that part of the kingdom.
Flower. Ha!—and pray, Mr. Trueman, how long have you been called to the bar?
Trueman. About nine years and three quarters.
Flower. Ha!—I don't know that I ever had the pleaſure of ſeeing you before.—I wiſh you ſucceſs, young gentleman!
Enter Sterling.
Sterl. Oh, Mr. Serjeant Flower, I am glad to ſee you—Your ſervant, Mr. Serjeant! gentlemen, your ſervant!—Well, are all matters concluded? Has that ſnail-paced conveyancer, old Ferret of Gray's Inn, ſettled the articles at laſt? Do you approve of what he has done? Will his tackle hold? tight and ſtrong?—Eh, maſter Serjeant?
Flower. My friend Ferret's ſlow and ſure, Sir—But then, ſerius aut citius, as we ſay,—ſooner or later, Mr. Sterling, he is ſure to put his buſineſs out of hand as he ſhould do.—My clerk has brought the writings, and all other inſtruments along with him, and the ſettlement is, I believe, as good a ſettlement as any ſettlement on the face of the earth!
Sterl. But that damn'd mortgage of 60,000 l.—There don't appear to be any other incumbrances, I hope?
Traverſe.