"My boys," said Charley, "this is exceedingly well for Madam North;--not that I would speak uncivilly of her; she put up my picture in her best room, bless her for it! But, I say, this is very well for her, and for Lord Caesar, and Squire Don, and Colonel Von;--but what affair is it of yours or mine? It is not to be wondered at, that gentlemen should wish to keep poor people out of their own.But it is strange indeed that they should expect the poor themselves to combine against their own interests.If the folks at St Dennis's should attack us we have the law and our cudgels to protect us.But why, in the name of wonder, are we to attack them? When old Sir Charles, who was Lord of the Manor formerly, and the parson, who was presented by him to the living, tried to bully the vestry, did not we knock their heads together, and go to meeting to hear Jeremiah Ringletub preach? And did the Squire Don, or the great Sir Lewis, that lived at that time, or the Germains, say a word against us for it? Mind your own business, my lads: law is not to be had for nothing; and we, you may be sure, shall have to pay the whole bill."Nevertheless the people of St George's were resolved on law.
They cried out most lustily, "Squire Guelf for ever! Sweet William for ever! No steel traps!" Squire Guelf took all the rascally footmen who had worn old Sir Lewis's livery into his service.They were fed in the kitchen on the very best of everything, though they had no settlement.Many people, and the paupers in particular, grumbled at these proceedings.The steward, however, devised a way to keep them quiet.
There had lived in this parish for many years an old gentleman, named Sir Habeas Corpus.He was said by some to be of Saxon, by some of Norman, extraction.Some maintain that he was not born till after the time of Sir Charles, to whom we have before alluded.Others are of opinion that he was a legitimate son of old Lady Magna Charta, although he was long concealed and kept out of his birthright.Certain it is that he was a very benevolent person.Whenever any poor fellow was taken up on grounds which he thought insufficient, he used to attend on his behalf and bail him; and thus he had become so popular, that to take direct measures against him was out of the question.
The steward, accordingly, brought a dozen physicians to examine Sir Habeas.After consultation, they reported that he was in a very bad way, and ought not, on any account, to be allowed to stir out for several months.Fortified with this authority, the parish officers put him to bed, closed his windows, and barred his doors.They paid him every attention, and from time to time issued bulletins of his health.The steward never spoke of him without declaring that he was the best gentleman in the world;but excellent care was taken that he should never stir out of doors.
When this obstacle was removed, the Squire and the steward kept the parish in excellent order; flogged this man, sent that man to the stocks, and pushed forward the law-suit with a noble disregard of expense.They were, however, wanting either in skill or in fortune.And everything went against them after their antagonists had begun to employ Solicitor Nap.
Who does not know the name of Solicitor Nap? At what alehouse is not his behaviour discussed? In what print-shop is not his picture seen? Yet how little truth has been said about him!
Some people hold that he used to give laudanum by pints to his six clerks for his amusement.Others, whose number has very much increased since he was killed by the gaol distemper, conceive that he was the very model of honour and good-nature.I shall try to tell the truth about him.
He was assuredly an excellent solicitor.In his way he never was surpassed.As soon as the parish began to employ him, their cause took a turn.In a very little time they were successful;and Nap became rich.He now set up for a gentleman; took possession of the old manor-house; got into the commission of the peace, and affected to be on a par with the best of the county.
He governed the vestries as absolutely as the old family had done.Yet, to give him his due, he managed things with far more discretion than either Sir Lewis or the rioters who had pulled the Lords of the Manor down.He kept his servants in tolerable order.He removed the steel traps from the highways and the corners of the streets.He still left a few indeed in the more exposed parts of his premises; and set up a board announcing that traps and spring guns were set in his grounds.He brought the poor parson back to the parish; and, though he did not enable him to keep a fine house and a coach as formerly, he settled him in a snug little cottage, and allowed him a pleasant pad-nag.He whitewashed the church again; and put the stocks, which had been much wanted of late, into good repair.
With the neighbouring gentry, however, he was no favourite.He was crafty and litigious.He cared nothing for right, if he could raise a point of law against them.He pounded their cattle, broke their hedges, and seduced their tenants from them.
He almost ruined Lord Caesar with actions, in every one of which he was successful.Von Blunderbussen went to law with him for an alleged trespass, but was cast, and almost ruined by the costs of suit.He next took a fancy to the seat of Squire Don, who was, to say the truth, little better than an idiot.He asked the poor dupe to dinner, and then threatened to have him tossed in a blanket unless he would make over his estates to him.The poor Squire signed and sealed a deed by which the property was assigned to Joe, a brother of Nap's, in trust for and to the use of Nap himself.The tenants, however, stood out.They maintained that the estate was entailed, and refused to pay rents to the new landlord; and in this refusal they were stoutly supported by the people in St George's.