feelings, personal collisions took place; and the Commons was even
scandalised by our principal inveigler (who had formerly been in wine trade,
and afterwards in the sworn brokery line] walking about for some days with a
black eye. Any one of these scouts used to think nothing of politely assisting
an old lady in black out of a vehicle, killing any proctor whom she inquired
for, representing his employer as the lawful successor and representative of
that proctor, and bearing the old lady off (sometimes greatly affected) to his
employer's office. Many capives were brought to me in this way. As to
marriage licences, the competition rose to such a pitch, that a shy
gentleman in want of one, had nothing to do but submit himself to the first
inveigler, or be fought for, and become the prey of the strongest. One of our
clerks, who was an out-sider, used, in the height of this contest, to sit with his
hat on, that he might be ready to rush out and swear before a surrogate any
victim who was brought in. The system of inveigling continues, I believe, to
this day. The last time I was in Commons, a civil able-bodied person in a
white apron pounced out upon me from a doorway, and whispering the
word "Marriage-licence" in my ear, was with great difficulty prevented from
taking me up in his arms and lifting me into a proctor's, (chapter 37)
Het is duidelijk, dat onder de hiervoren beschreven attornies of proctors
'sham-attornies' of agents, ook enkele personages kunnen thuis horen, die
Dickens elders in zijn werken laat optreden, b.v. in deel 2 van A Passage in the
Life of Mr.Watkins To ff Ie Skefches lay Bozj:
'This here young gen'lm'n's father so I'm told, mind ye - and the father
o' the young woman, have always been on very bad, out-and-out, rig'lar
knock-me-down sort o' terms; but somehow or or another, when he was
wisitin' at some gentlefolk's house, as he knowd a college, he came into
contract with the young lady. He seed her several times, and then he up
and said he'd keep company with her, if so be as she vos agreeable. Veil,
she vos as sweet upon him as he vos upon her, and so I s'pose they made it
all right; for they got married 'bout six months arterwards, unbeknown, mind
ye, to the two fathers - leastways so I'm told. When they heard on it -- my
eyes, there was such a combustion!. Starvation vos the very last vos to be
done to 'em. The young gentl'm'n's father cut him off vith a bob, 'cos he'd
cut himself off vith a wife; and the young lady;s father behaved even worser
and more unnat'ral, for he not only blow'd her up dreadful, and swore he'd
never see her again, but he employed a chap as I knows - and as you
knows, Mr Valker, a precious sight too well - to go about and buy up the bills
and them things on which the young husband thinking his governor 'ud
come round again, had raised the vind just to blow himself on vith for a time;
beside vich, he made all the interest he could to set other people agin him.
Consequence vos, that he paid as long as he could; but things he never
expected to have to meet, till he'd had time to turn himself round, come
that upon him, and he vos nabbed. He vos brought here, as I said before,
last Vensday, and I think there's about - ah, half-a-dozen detainers agin him
down-stairs now. I have been," added Ikey, 'in the purfession these fifteen
year, and I never met vith such windictiveness afore!
