Book Description

Excerpt from Bardell V. Pickwick: The Trial for Breach of Promise of Marriage Held at the Guildhall Sittings, on April 1, 1828, Before Mr. Justice Stareleigh and a Special Jury of the City of London There are few things more familiar or more interesting to the public than this cause celebre. It is better known than many a real case: for every one knows the Judge, his name and remarks - also the Counsel - (notably Sergeant Buzfuz) - the witnesses, and what they said - and of course all about the Plaintiff and the famous Defendant. It was tried over seventy years ago at "the Guildhall Settings," and was described by Boz some sixty-three years ago. Yet every detail seems fresh - and as fresh as ever. It is astonishing that a purely technical sketch like this, whose humours might be relished only by such specialists as Barristers and Attorneys, who would understand the jokes levelled at the Profession, should be so well understanded of the people. All see the point of the legal satire. It is a quite a prodigy. Boz had the art, in an extraordinary degree, of thus vividly commending trade processes, professional allusions, and methods to outsiders, and making them humourous and intelligible. A witness Jackson, when he came to "serve" Mr. Pickwick and friends with the subpoenas. It is a dry, business-like process, but how racy Boz made it. A joke sparkles in every line.