years since were handsome, smooth-faced young men, had now a
complexion rough as a nutmeg-grater, and red with that unhealthy
colour which is produced by long hours in a poisonous atmosphere.
The Courts at Westminster, for cramped space and utter absence of
ventilation, are nothing short of a disgrace to a civilized nation.
But the most painful reflection which they suggest to a man with
a little knowledge of the practical working of law, is, how vainly
human law strives to do justice. There, on the benches of the
various Courts, you have a number of the most able and honest men
in Britain: skilled by long practice to distinguish between right
and wrong, between truth and falsehood; and yet, in five cases out
of six that come before them, they signally fail of redressing the
wrongs brought before them. Unhappily, in the nature of things, much
delay must occur in all legal procedure; and further, the machinery
of the law cannot be set in motion unless at very considerable
expense. Now, every one knows that delay in gaining a legal decision
of a debated question, very often amounts to a decision against
both parties. What enjoyment of the summer days has the harassed
suitor, waiting in nervous anxiety for the judgment or the verdict
which may be his ruin? For very small things may be the ruin
of many men. A few pounds to be paid may dip an honest man's head
under water for years, or for life. But the great evil of the law,
after all, is, that it costs so much. I am aware that this may be
nobody's fault; it may be a vice inherent in the nature of things.
Still, where the matter in question is of no very great amount, it
is a fact that makes the wise man willing rather to take injustice than
to go to law. A man meets with an injury; he sustains some wrong.
He brings his action; the jury give him ten or twenty pounds damages.
The jury fancy that this sum will make him amends for what he has
lost or suffered; they fancy that of course he will get this sum.