Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 07.pdf/408

 Thackeray's Legal Career. in the lines written by Tom Taylor on the announcement that the chambers were to be pulled down. The verses will be found in "Punch" of 26th February, 1858; the opening stanza runs thus : — They were fusty, they were musty, they were grimy, dull and dim, The paint scaled of the panelling, the stairs were all untrim; The flooring creaked, the windows gaped, the door post stood awry; The wind whipt round the corner with a wild and wailing cry. In a dingier set of chambers no man need wish to stow, Than those, old friend, wherein we denned, in Ten, Crown Office Row. The writer then recalls the many pleasant hours spent in the dusty old rooms, their Bohemian dinners, and their life generally. The praises of the same set of chambers are sung by Thackeray himself, in his ballad, "The Cane-Bottomed Chair," where he sings of his Snug little kingdom up four pair of stairs, To mount to this realm is a toil to be sure, But the fire there is bright, and the air rather pure; And the view I behold on a sunshiny day Is grand through the chimney-pots over the way. After this Thackeray deserted for some years the temple of Themis, and entered the wider and invigorating domain of literature. But he came back at a later date, ate his dinners, and was duly called to the bar. In the Law List for 1849 we find his name for the first time, and from that year till 1851 the entry is the same: "Thackeray, Wm. Makepiece (sic), Esq., 10 Crown Office-row, called M., 26th May, 1848." In 1852 and 1853 no address is given, but in 1854 and onward to 1859 we find him

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in chambers at 2 Brick Court. The fact of his association with this address seems to have eluded the vigilant eye of Mr. Laurence Hutton in tracking the footsteps of our men of letters. Goldsmith's residence there has received due recognition, but the augmented interest attaching to the chambers by reason of Thackeray's association with them has been strangely overlooked. Is it possible that Thackeray selected that address just because it had been consecrated by poor Goldy? It may have been so. It is diffi cult to say, too, whether he ever expected any result from his call to the bar. At that time, it must be remembered, his literary position was by no means assured, although it was soon to be put beyond doubt, and it has been conjectured that the idea of getting some magisterial post had something to do with the call. We need not much regret, however, that such views, if ever entertained, were never realized. Too close an absorp tion in legal pursuits, while it may strengthen a man's intellectual force, has a tendency to blunt the finer and more sensitive parts of his nature; and although there was little fear of Thackeray ever being too closely absorbed in his law, his attention might yet have been distracted from his life-work, and that work we could ill afford to lose. On the other hand, we cannot but feel glad of his connection, slight though it was, with our profession, as in it he found the inspira tion of some of his brightest pages — pages which have helped to relieve the dullness and routine of the Templar's life by throw ing a fresh light on the scene of his labors, and by adding to our gallery of living por traits. — Law Times.