THE LAY OF THE LITTLE BARRISTER
I’m a little barrister, taking little fees;
Raising knotty little points, and signing little pleas;
Making little motions in a little court;
Causing by my speeches not a little sport.
I’m a little barrister, in my little wig,
Feeling rather little, when looking very big;
No one knows my modesty—but my little self,
For I feel I’m little more than on a little shelf.
I’m a little barrister, in my little gown,
Getting now, I must avow, not a little brown:
As I’m called a junior you would little guess,
I’m fifty and a little more—rather than little less,
I’m a little barrister, in my little home,
Up to which at Camden Town I from chambers roam;
With my little children climbing up my knee,
As with a mutton chop I make a dinner of my tea.
Though annoyed with little notes demanding little bills,
I do my little utmost to conquer little ills;
But often to my countenance there comes a little smile,
As I think that all our troubles last a very little while.
Legal Query.—Is there any precedent for a good practical farmer being styled one of the judges of the land?
Depreciative.—Defendant (on bail). “’Im my counsellor! Then blowed if I don’t conduct my own case in pusson!”