Ihe Merry Past 



nefarious practices of such pettifoggers which brought 

 that kind of stigma on the honourable majority of 

 the profession, which vulgar prejudice most uncharit- 

 ably did not disassociate from the black sheep. Many 

 a limb of the law in other days was like the fox among 

 poultry, ravenous and destructive, sparing neither 

 young nor old, while the cries of the helpless but 

 served to improve the keenness of his appetite, and 

 augment the wrongs of the unfortunate. 



In connection with this subject, the following 

 historical reminiscence may not be out of place. 



For ages the inhabitants of the Isle of Wight were 

 notorious for their aversion to every process of the 

 law. Whenever a misunderstanding arose between 

 any two of them it was the local custom to submit it 

 to a jury of neighbours, no professional lawyer being 

 allowed to interfere on any pretence whatever — a 

 state of affairs which gained the islanders much com- 

 mendation from their less fortunate neighbours on 

 the mainland. 



In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, however, when Sir 

 George Carey was appointed Captain General and Gov- 

 ernor of the island, an attorney-at-law came to settle at 

 Newport, having perceived the favourable opportu- 

 nities for making a fortune. His little tricks and 

 mercenary insinuations soon set the once happy and 

 peaceable inhabitants at great strife, insomuch that 

 a formal petition was presented to the Governor, 

 praying that they who had so long lived in amity with 

 each other, might be fairly quit of this nuisance, and 

 once more restored to order and good neighbourhood. 

 c 17 



