Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 19.pdf/512

 ANCIENT LAWYERS years. This lens, as a burning glass applied to the parchment, blistered out the text while the clerk of the court was entering the suit. Thus, we have courts and clerks and drug stores and the materials with which to make telescopes all in this one quotation. Athens seems to have been a modern city, because the author speaks of parasols and umbrellas and of the youths kicking foot balls; and the characters from time to time have with them folding camp stools, and there are informers constantly bringing qui tarn actions. One person is returning home to a distant Greek town; a colloquy occurs in which he is asked what he is going to take back, whether crockery or anchovies, and he says, "No, we have them at home; I will take back an informer," to which the querist replies, "Better pack him up like crockery." Some of these informers made a business of informing upon non-resi dent aliens, and attaching their property much after the methods of the present day. Others looked after resident aliens. One of them in the play is addressed as fol lows: "Have you not from the first displayed impudence which alone is the protection of orators, on which you relying drain the wealthy foreigners. But, indeed, another fellow much more rascally than you has appeared, so I rejoice. He will immedi ately put an end to you, and surpass you, as he plainly shows, in villainy, impudence, and knavish tricks." (Knights, 325.) Another informer is thus addressed : "Oh, you rascally and abominable braw ler. Every land is full of your audacity and extortions and indictments and law courts, oh, thou mud slinger." (Knights, 300.) Another one is addressed as follows : "You talk twaddle. Have you the audac ity to abuse wine as senseless? Can you find anything more businesslike than wine? Don't you see when men drink they are rich, win lawsuits, and are happy and assist their friends? Come, bring out a measure of wine quickly that I may moisten my

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mind and say something witty." (Knights, 90.) Another person is addressed as follows : "If you have anywhere pleaded some little suit well against a resident alien bab bling the livelong night, and talking to yourself in the streets and drinking water and showing yourself off and boring your friends, you have fancied that you were a great orator." (340.) Another speaks : "By Jove, if two orators were talking and one was recommending the building of ships of war, and the other, on the con trary, the spending of this money on his hearers, the one who spoke of paying his hearers having outstripped the one who spoke of warships would go his way rejoic ing. ( . . . . ) Now tell me, if any fawning lawyer should say, "You jurymen, you get no pay unless you decide against this suit, what would you do?" (Knights, 1350.) It appears further from the plays that in the courts of law where there were any parties litigant over sixty years of age, their cases were set in the order of precedent of their ages, so that cases of old people might be the first heard and decided. But the priority of the other cases was not as re gards filing of the suit but according to lot. So that no one could tell exactly when his case was coming off, and when the case was set it was set for two days, so that the first day could be used in efforts for compromise. The jury were also the subject of much ridicule. The jury seemed to be at that time the citizens at large who cared to come and listen to the case. There was no regular panel and no regular number of jurors, but when certain citizens as jurors became tryers in the case, they must stay until the case was closed. The pay of the jurors per day was three obolii; various slang terms were applied to jurors as " Brethern of the three' obol pieces," there being a coin of three obolii in silver of the value of one of our dimes. The farmer to whom I first referred, in the