DOI Heft:
November 24, 1855
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16616#0217
November 24, 1855.]
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
205
getting technical (not that you do not grasp the meaning of hard words
with a quickness and an accuracy that makes him ashamed of his male
pupils); but he will illustrate the way in which the lawyers deal with
such matters, by making an ordinary article of lady's use the subject of
a conveyancer's treatment.
Mrs. Swansdown {nee Maria Goosington) has an old-fashioned
Work-table, beautifully painted, and inlaid with silver. It belonged to
her grandmother, who received it as a present from the grateful wife
of a young officer (a friend of the Pretender's), to whom Granny, then
h romantic young Flora MTvor, gave shelter after Culloden. Mrs.
Swansdown's pet daughter is married ; and her husband, Mr. Fondle-
squaw, wants to give his mother-in-law a splendid Epergne in exchange
for this Work-table, which his wife, from childish association, desires to
possess. All parties are agreed, but (we write as if the two articles of
property had acquired the dignity of land) the arrangement must be made
by deeds, on parchment. The lawyers on each side go to work.
We will begin with Mrs. Swansdown's lawyer, who has to prove to
the satisfaction of Mr. Fondlesquaw's lawyer, that Mrs. S. has a
good title to the Work-table. He makes out an enormous document of
a hundred sheets, facetiously called "Abstract of Title." The charge
for this is very high. He has a copy made, and he sends it to Mr.
Grubby, a conveyancing barrister, in Lincoln's Inn, to look it over,
and see whether it is fit to be handed over to "the other side." Mr.
G. has a handsome fee, and looks over the title.
He returns the document in three weeks or a month, with this
kind of observations:—
" The title to the Work-table, subject to the following remarks, seems
satisfactory.
"You must obtain evidence to prove, that the lady who presented it
in 1746 had her husband's permission to do so.
"If she is living, I think her declaration to that effect would do;
but, as she was no doubt 20 at the gift, and this is 109 years ago, this
would make her 129, and she may therefore be deceased, and her
representatives must be sought for.
" The letter presenting the table is dated Amiens, in France. See if
you can get any evidence of her having been seen to post the letter.
Some old inhabitant may have heard of a letter being posted in
! 1746.
"I do not think that the Table went through the post; but, as this
depends on French law, obtain the opinion of a Parisian advocate on
the subject. (Translate this for me, as I only understand Norman
French, such as sur conuzance de droit comme ceo, 8fC )
" If the Table came from France, it ought to have paid duty. Search
the Custom House books for 1716, and get a copy of any entry on the
1 subject.
" One of the silver ornaments is stated to have been repaired in 1802.
You must get the silversmith's bill for doing this, and show either by
receipt or other evidence that it was paid.
" Sarah Goosington, mother of Mrs. Swansdown, had the Table
Youthful Costermonger. " Now then, Guvner, 'ate the last rope j relined, and a small looking-glass inserted in the inside of the cover.
for a penny?" Ascertain whether this was done before her husband bolted to Boulogne,
_ I or afterwards, as in the latter case creditors might assert a claim to the
silk and the glass. Obtain his schedule, as an insolvent, as it may
include the silk-mercer's bill.
"There is an outlying work-bag, or rag-bag, fastened below the Table,
to which no title is shown, and it would seem that the children used to
a conveyancing lecture eor the ladies. put their playthings in it, and it may be a question whether tenancy in
common was not created. Would Mrs. Fondlesquaw's brothers and
sisters release their rights herein ?
Conveyancing, Ladies, is the machinery bv which such property as "X cannot identify the emery needle-cushion on the left hand with
houses and land is bought, sold, entailed, or n'awned. It is the most tbat originally inserted, and 1 think that search should be made, in
splendid invention for beggaring the owners of such property, and ' case tne emery-powder have slipped into the cracks of the wood, a*ul so
enriching lawyers, that ever was conceived. It is better than the oecome incorporated into the freehold. Get evidence as to this, and
Court of Chancery, that delight of mankind. ' You may think that the a^so as to the sawing out the partition between the cottons and the
Bubject does not concern you; but indeed it does. Not to speak of si^s\ I do not think that any tenant of the Table was entitled to
young ladies whose fathers are landowners, young ladies whose mar-1cut timber _ _
riage dowry is frightfully diminished by the tremendous expense of! The Table in the letter is also termed a Housewife s Companion,
settlements and the making out titles (you shall understand this This is an outstanding term, but may be considered as merged in
directly, dears), there is scarcely a lady, whose husband is iu mode-1 modern phraseology.
rarely prosperous circumstances, who does not suffer by the system, i " Gideon Grubby,
One would like to buy one's wife a little house for a birthday present,! ''Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 20(k"
or a cottage for her summer trip, or a little piece of land to be planted I
on baby's birthday, and these things might be done for a reasonable 1 n There, my dears, is a small portion of the profitable work cut out by
outlay. But not only does the lawyer make the purchase terribly ! lawyer for lawyer, before a single step is taken i a the real arrangement,
expensive, but the charming system of conveyancing places you in such j Mr. Punch will show you, in due course, how the business went on.
a condition, that if you happen to want to get your purchase off your _ _
hands at any time, the merely showing that you have a right to do so I
VerJ Tarly thr6 Vake °Athe Pr?Pn£irty- lou T11 ver? i What will Gough Say ?
likely ask some lawyer if this is so, and he will tell you that the state-1
ment is exaggerated, that some titles are "difficult," but that the! Even the Earl op Shaftesbury has made a slip, and on his own
W z? 1S i V6i? beautiful one- Tell him, dears,—or rather say that j ground too—Exeter Hall. His Lordship, in introducing Lord John
Mr Bunch told you to tell him—that he is a humbug, and that the Russell to the Christian Young Men, observed that Lord Johw
system is a swindle. needed no prefatory explanation, in other words—" good wine needs no
Mr. Funch wishes to give you some idea of the real nature of this! bush." The Earl of Shaftesbury to talk of wine and in Exeter
MRS. SWANSDOWN'S WORK-TABLE.
4. conveyancing lecture for the ladies
" Steal, foh! the wise do call it convey."—Shaltspeare.
Beautiful system. So, he will not talk of houses or land, for fear of! Hall! Gracious goodness! what will Mr. Gough say
PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
205
getting technical (not that you do not grasp the meaning of hard words
with a quickness and an accuracy that makes him ashamed of his male
pupils); but he will illustrate the way in which the lawyers deal with
such matters, by making an ordinary article of lady's use the subject of
a conveyancer's treatment.
Mrs. Swansdown {nee Maria Goosington) has an old-fashioned
Work-table, beautifully painted, and inlaid with silver. It belonged to
her grandmother, who received it as a present from the grateful wife
of a young officer (a friend of the Pretender's), to whom Granny, then
h romantic young Flora MTvor, gave shelter after Culloden. Mrs.
Swansdown's pet daughter is married ; and her husband, Mr. Fondle-
squaw, wants to give his mother-in-law a splendid Epergne in exchange
for this Work-table, which his wife, from childish association, desires to
possess. All parties are agreed, but (we write as if the two articles of
property had acquired the dignity of land) the arrangement must be made
by deeds, on parchment. The lawyers on each side go to work.
We will begin with Mrs. Swansdown's lawyer, who has to prove to
the satisfaction of Mr. Fondlesquaw's lawyer, that Mrs. S. has a
good title to the Work-table. He makes out an enormous document of
a hundred sheets, facetiously called "Abstract of Title." The charge
for this is very high. He has a copy made, and he sends it to Mr.
Grubby, a conveyancing barrister, in Lincoln's Inn, to look it over,
and see whether it is fit to be handed over to "the other side." Mr.
G. has a handsome fee, and looks over the title.
He returns the document in three weeks or a month, with this
kind of observations:—
" The title to the Work-table, subject to the following remarks, seems
satisfactory.
"You must obtain evidence to prove, that the lady who presented it
in 1746 had her husband's permission to do so.
"If she is living, I think her declaration to that effect would do;
but, as she was no doubt 20 at the gift, and this is 109 years ago, this
would make her 129, and she may therefore be deceased, and her
representatives must be sought for.
" The letter presenting the table is dated Amiens, in France. See if
you can get any evidence of her having been seen to post the letter.
Some old inhabitant may have heard of a letter being posted in
! 1746.
"I do not think that the Table went through the post; but, as this
depends on French law, obtain the opinion of a Parisian advocate on
the subject. (Translate this for me, as I only understand Norman
French, such as sur conuzance de droit comme ceo, 8fC )
" If the Table came from France, it ought to have paid duty. Search
the Custom House books for 1716, and get a copy of any entry on the
1 subject.
" One of the silver ornaments is stated to have been repaired in 1802.
You must get the silversmith's bill for doing this, and show either by
receipt or other evidence that it was paid.
" Sarah Goosington, mother of Mrs. Swansdown, had the Table
Youthful Costermonger. " Now then, Guvner, 'ate the last rope j relined, and a small looking-glass inserted in the inside of the cover.
for a penny?" Ascertain whether this was done before her husband bolted to Boulogne,
_ I or afterwards, as in the latter case creditors might assert a claim to the
silk and the glass. Obtain his schedule, as an insolvent, as it may
include the silk-mercer's bill.
"There is an outlying work-bag, or rag-bag, fastened below the Table,
to which no title is shown, and it would seem that the children used to
a conveyancing lecture eor the ladies. put their playthings in it, and it may be a question whether tenancy in
common was not created. Would Mrs. Fondlesquaw's brothers and
sisters release their rights herein ?
Conveyancing, Ladies, is the machinery bv which such property as "X cannot identify the emery needle-cushion on the left hand with
houses and land is bought, sold, entailed, or n'awned. It is the most tbat originally inserted, and 1 think that search should be made, in
splendid invention for beggaring the owners of such property, and ' case tne emery-powder have slipped into the cracks of the wood, a*ul so
enriching lawyers, that ever was conceived. It is better than the oecome incorporated into the freehold. Get evidence as to this, and
Court of Chancery, that delight of mankind. ' You may think that the a^so as to the sawing out the partition between the cottons and the
Bubject does not concern you; but indeed it does. Not to speak of si^s\ I do not think that any tenant of the Table was entitled to
young ladies whose fathers are landowners, young ladies whose mar-1cut timber _ _
riage dowry is frightfully diminished by the tremendous expense of! The Table in the letter is also termed a Housewife s Companion,
settlements and the making out titles (you shall understand this This is an outstanding term, but may be considered as merged in
directly, dears), there is scarcely a lady, whose husband is iu mode-1 modern phraseology.
rarely prosperous circumstances, who does not suffer by the system, i " Gideon Grubby,
One would like to buy one's wife a little house for a birthday present,! ''Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 20(k"
or a cottage for her summer trip, or a little piece of land to be planted I
on baby's birthday, and these things might be done for a reasonable 1 n There, my dears, is a small portion of the profitable work cut out by
outlay. But not only does the lawyer make the purchase terribly ! lawyer for lawyer, before a single step is taken i a the real arrangement,
expensive, but the charming system of conveyancing places you in such j Mr. Punch will show you, in due course, how the business went on.
a condition, that if you happen to want to get your purchase off your _ _
hands at any time, the merely showing that you have a right to do so I
VerJ Tarly thr6 Vake °Athe Pr?Pn£irty- lou T11 ver? i What will Gough Say ?
likely ask some lawyer if this is so, and he will tell you that the state-1
ment is exaggerated, that some titles are "difficult," but that the! Even the Earl op Shaftesbury has made a slip, and on his own
W z? 1S i V6i? beautiful one- Tell him, dears,—or rather say that j ground too—Exeter Hall. His Lordship, in introducing Lord John
Mr Bunch told you to tell him—that he is a humbug, and that the Russell to the Christian Young Men, observed that Lord Johw
system is a swindle. needed no prefatory explanation, in other words—" good wine needs no
Mr. Funch wishes to give you some idea of the real nature of this! bush." The Earl of Shaftesbury to talk of wine and in Exeter
MRS. SWANSDOWN'S WORK-TABLE.
4. conveyancing lecture for the ladies
" Steal, foh! the wise do call it convey."—Shaltspeare.
Beautiful system. So, he will not talk of houses or land, for fear of! Hall! Gracious goodness! what will Mr. Gough say